The Federal Reserve on Wednesday voted to hold interest rates steady while Chairman Jerome Powell warned that tariffs and trade wars are creating inflationary pressures.

“If the large increases in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they’re likely to generate a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth, and an increase in unemployment,” Powell said at a news conference.

Powell also said that the economic picture in the United States is unclear. He said he does not know “which way this will shake out” whether to be concerned or not about U.S. economic growth.

“It’s really not at all clear what it is we should do,” said Powell.

The Fed’s vote on Wednesday will keep interest rates at 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent, where they have remained since December after some cuts to interest rates last year.

President Donald Trump has placed tariffs on dozens of countries, focusing particularly on top U.S. trading partners Canada, China, and Mexico. The tariffs and the White House messaging around them has sent the stock market into chaos at points over the past couple of months.

 While Canada and Mexico have negotiated with the Trump administration over immigration, drug trafficking, and other issues, Beijing has ratcheted up tensions with Washington. Talks between China and the United States have not yet started, though Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that a date had been set for U.S. officials to meet with officials from Beijing.

“I was going to be in Switzerland to negotiate with the Swiss. Turns out, the Chinese team is traveling through Europe and they will be in Switzerland also. So, we will meet on Saturday and Sunday,” the treasury secretary said.

While tariff talk has spooked markets, Trump has pursued a business-friendly deregulatory agenda and promised an extension of his 2017 tax cuts.

“We are making great progress on ‘The One, Big, Beautiful Bill.’ Our Economy is doing well, but it’s going to BOOM in a way never seen before,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on Wednesday. “We are going to do NO TAX ON TIPS, NO TAX ON SENIORS’ SOCIAL SECURITY, NO TAX ON OVERTIME, and much more. It will be the biggest Tax Cut for Middle and Working Class Americans by far, and it is time for Main Street to WIN. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

On Wednesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) defended the exorbitant use of private jets to fly around the country during his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

Fox News host Bret Baier broached the topic during an interview with Sanders on “Special Report.”

WATCH: @BretBaier challenges Bernie Sanders on why he spent $221k using private jets during his ‘fighting oligarchy’ tour pic.twitter.com/lMii8D4HC1

— TV News Now (@TVNewsNow) May 7, 2025

He first alluded to a POLITICO report on how Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) urged Democrats to stop harping on the “oligarchy” because the term does not resonate beyond coastal institutions.

Then Baier referred to a recent Washington Free Beacon story on Sanders’ main campaign committee, Friends of Bernie Sanders, spending $221,723 chartering private jets during the first quarter of 2025 after and the senator spending millions of dollars on such flights over the years.

“You know, Elissa Slotkin, senator from Michigan, she said you shouldn’t be using ‘oligarch,’ it’s over people’s head. You’ve gotten criticized from other people,” Baier said. “Free Beacon says Bernie Sanders spent $221,000 on private jets [amid the] ‘Fighting Oligarchy” Tour, paid for by Friends of Bernie Sanders. That you’ve spent millions of dollars in campaign funds on private jet travel over the years. How do you push back on both of those things?”

Sanders’ initial inclination was to take a swipe at President Donald Trump.

“When’s the last time you saw Donald Trump during a campaign mode at National Airport?” Sanders asked.

“No, no, no. It doesn’t. But he’s also not fighting the oligarchy,” Baier replied.

“No. You run a campaign and you do three or four or five rallies in a week. The only way you can get around to talk to 30,000 people,” Sanders said. “Think I’m going to be sitting on a waiting line at United, waiting, you know, while 30,000 people are waiting? That’s the only way you can get around. No apologies for that.”

He added: “That’s what campaign travel is about. We’ve done it in the past, we’re going to do it in the future.”

With the reporting on the price tag for the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour flights, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) criticized Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez for their jet-setting ways with a not-so-subtle nod to their climate activism.

“Champagne socialists Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez demand Americans surrender their pick-up trucks, air conditioning and meat from the luxe leather seats of their private jets that cost more per hour than most Americans earn in months. Their hypocrisy is staggering,” NRCC spokesperson Ben Petersen told Fox News Digital.