Outside of a U.S. President bending norms, the Fed also faces challenges in achieving its economic objectives. Inflation remains above its 2% target: Its preferred measure is at 2.4%, though core prices — considered a better gauge of where inflation is headed — rose 2.8% in November from a year ago.

The US Federal Reserve is on a collision course with Donald Trump, economists say, with the central bank set to keep interest rates on hold despite the president’s calls to reduce borrowing costs by “a lot”.