Key Takeaways Members of the Federal Open Market Committee grappled with uncertainty about trade policy and the trajectory of the economy ahead of their decision to keep interest rates steady in May,

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell met with President Donald Trump Thursday at the White House, the central bank said in a statement, their first such meeting since the president began his second term.

U.S. Federal Reserve officials at their last meeting acknowledged they could face "difficult tradeoffs" in coming months in the form of rising inflation alongside rising unemployment, an outlook buttressed by concerns about financial market volatility and Fed staff warnings of increasing recession risk,

Jerome H. Powell stressed in his first meeting since the president returned to the White House that policy decisions would be “based solely on careful, objective and nonpolitical analysis.”

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The president met with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell for the first time this term, after publicly pressuring him last month to slash interest rates.

U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers could still cut interest rates twice this year as they projected in March, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said on Thursday, but for now rates should remain steady to make sure inflation is on track to reach the central bank's 2% goal.

The Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, has told President Donald Trump that monetary policy will not be influenced by politics.

Federal Reserve officials were worried about the possibility that higher inflation resulting from the White House trade policy might lead to lasting higher inflation, even as central bank staff were noting that recession odds were high, according to the minutes of the Fed’s May 6-7 meeting, published Wednesday.