The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait. The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as “THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World. The process and formation will begin immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP

Thank you, Yelena, and thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. My subject is the outlook for the U.S. economy and the implications for monetary policy. Spending by households and businesses has been resilient, despite higher goods costs generated by tariffs and the surge in energy prices from the Middle East conflict. The labor market has also been stable, with employment close to the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) maximum-employment goal. So I feel the real side of the economy is in good shape. But I believe inflation and monetary policy are at a crossroads. Despite higher tariffs in 2025, core inflation held steady for most of the year. But it then began to rise in January. After the Middle East conflict disrupted production and transportation of petroleum and other commodities, this increase accelerated. Conventional wisdom among central bankers is to look through one-time price increases, such as those associated with higher tariffs and a jump in oil prices. But, at this point, I am concerned about the elevated pace of core inflation this year, which has steadily moved up—as measured by the 12-month personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rate—from 3 percent in December 2025 to 3.4 percent in May. Core inflation excludes the direct effects of consumer energy prices, and we are past the point where we can attribute large price increases to earlier tariff hikes. So, the question is, will core inflation continue on its upward trajectory, or has it reached a turning point where it will begin to decline back toward our 2 percent target? The direction it takes has very different implications for the path of monetary policy. Because core inflation is a good guide to future inflation, I am concerned that, if this upward trend continues, it will be hard to push inflation back toward the Committee's 2 percent goal with monetary policy at its current setting. As I said in a May 22 speech, I am cognizant of the mistake we made in 2021 by not responding sooner to the high inflation we observed, and I am determined to avoid repeating it.2 But the desire to avoid past mistakes is often the author of new ones. I argued in remarks on July 6 that one of the most important jobs of a policymaker is to clearly assess current economic conditions and not just rely on past experience to guide judgments of where policy should be headed.3 As I will explain, there are some crucial differences now compared with 2021, and there is still a credible case for inflation to begin to fall back to our 2 percent goal with policy at its current setting. But I am concerned about the equally plausible case that data in the coming weeks will show that inflation will remain at its elevated level or even trend higher, requiring tighter monetary policy in the near term. I am committed to returning inflation to the FOMC's 2 percent g FED'S WALLER SAYS HE IS COMMITTED TO RETURNING INFLATION TO 2% TARGET; ALSO TO AVOID OVER-TIGHTENING POLICY AND RISKING RECESSION || CONCERNED ABOUT EQUALLY PLAUSIBLE CASE THAT TIGHTER POLICY WILL BE NEEDED FED'S WALLER SAYS HE EXPECTS A DECELERATION IN HEADLINE INFLATION STARTING WITH THIS WEEK'S INFLATION DATA; BUT WILL BE FOCUSED ON CORE READING || REAL SIDE OF ECONOMY IN GOOD SHAPE WALLER SAYS HE IS DETERMINED TO AVOID REPEATING FED'S MISTAKE IN 2021; BUT LABOR MARKET NOT AS TIGHT NOW, AND INFLATION EXPECTATIONS ANCHORED || HOUSEHOLD, BUSINESS SPENDING RESILIENT DESPITE HIGHER GOODS COSTS FROM TARIFFS, ENERGY PRICE SURGE FROM MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT Waller: We’re past the point where we can attribute past increases to tariffs. “No matter how you cut it, or what measure you want to use, inflation is up this year” “Sometimes a big change in only one component of core prices can move the total significantly without reflecting…

President Trump said Monday that the U.S. will be "the guardian" of the Strait of Hormuz and suggested that other countries will pay the U.S. for securing it. "The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as 'THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,' but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for ...