This week’s Federal Reserve meeting isn’t expected to pack much drama.

With uncertainty about the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on inflation and the economy still elevated, the Fed is expected to leave its key interest rate unchanged for a fourth straight meeting. It may, though, pare back its forecast to just one rate cut this year from two because of inflation concerns, says economist Michael Feroli of JPMorgan Chase.

It’s also a pretty good bet the fireworks will arrive after the Fed announces its decision, assuming President Donald Trump lambastes it and Fed Chair Jerome Powell as he has done repeatedly in recent weeks.

Trump has called on the Fed to sharply lower rates – a strategy that typically juices the economy and stock market - citing the European Central Bank’s aggressive rate-cutting campaign over the past year.

"'Too Late' Powell must now LOWER THE RATE,’” Trump wrote in a social media post on June 5 after a disappointing estimate of May’s private-sector job growth by payroll processor ADP. “He is unbelievable!!! Europe has lowered NINE TIMES!"

The European Central Bank, or ECB, actually had reduced its benchmark rate seven times at the time of Trump’s post but cut it again the following day.

Does Trump have a point? Does the Fed’s persistent wait-and-see approach put the U.S. at an economic disadvantage compared to the Eurozone?

Simply put, Is the Fed losing a global race with the ECB to slash interest rates?

In a way. But not really.

The Fed slashed its key rate by a percentage point late last year after a pandemic-related inflation spike eased but has paused since as it waits to see the impact of Trump’s sweeping tariffs on inflation and the economy.

The central bank reduces rates to bolster a sluggish economy and hikes rates or keeps them high longer to head off inflation. But Trump’s tariffs pose an unusual dilemma for Fed officials because they’re expected to both raise consumer prices and hamper growth by sapping household buying power.

The ECB, meanwhile, has steadily lowered its benchmark rate by a total two percentage points over the past year as eurozone inflation has eased while its economy remains anemic.

That leaves its key rate at 2%, more than 2 percentage points below the Fed’s 4.25% to 4.5% and among the largest gaps between the regions in recent memory.

While Trump didn’t elaborate last week on why he’s distressed about a big divide in rates between the U.S. and the Eurozone, he has been more specific in the past.

In August 2019, after the Fed approved the first of three quarter-point cuts, Trump called for “at least” a 1-point cut, noting Germany’s key short-term rate was negative.