If inflation starts climbing again after a rate cut, “the Fed will have to reverse course — and in the worst case, start hiking again,” Slok said.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has been under pressure from President Trump to lower the central bank's benchmark interest rate.

Trump ratcheted up his pressure campaign this week, calling on Fed Governor Lisa Cook to resign after a Trump administration official alleged that she had committed mortgage fraud. Cook rebuked the push for her to quit, saying she has “no intention of being bullied to step down from my position because of some questions raised in a tweet.”

Powell’s speech comes amid unprecedented pressure from the White House aimed at getting the central bank to lower borrowing costs.