New Fed Governor Milan clarifies communications with Trump, stressing independent decision on rate cuts

Stephen Milan, the new director of the Federal Reserve, made a public clarification on Friday about his communication with US President Trump, emphasizing that his voting decision at this week's monetary policy meeting was made independently and not subject to any political interference. Previously, the Federal Reserve announced a 25 basis point rate cut, but Milan voted against it in this rate decision, advocating for the rate cut to be expanded to 50 basis points. He explained after the meeting that this decision was based on his independent judgment of the economic situation. In response to external concerns, Milan stated that before the rate decision was announced, he had only had a brief exchange with President Trump once. He revealed: "He (Trump) called me on Tuesday morning just to congratulate, that's all." Milan emphasized that they "never discussed how I should vote, nor did they mention my position in the 'dot plot' of the Federal Reserve's economic forecast summary."