Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is giving a heavily-watched speech on Friday morning. It's one carrying the highest-stakes for him yet.

The annual Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in Wyoming is usually a tranquil affair with the globe's prominent monetary policymakers gathering to discuss and debate labor markets, inflation, finance, and more. But this year's convening has been overshadowed by President Donald Trump's relentless assault on Powell and the Federal Reserve by extension.

Investors and U.S. policymakers will be sifting through Powell's speech for any clue on the timing of the next interest rate cut. Fed officials have mostly stood by Powell's assessment that Trump's barrage of tariffs aren't threatening the U.S. economy enough to lower interest rates and juice its growth. Instead, the Fed has stood still, even as some of its top officials warn of a weakening job market.

Trump's attacks have thrust the Fed into the national spotlight, a position it's not accustomed to given its usual insulation from U.S. politics. He's been irate for much of the year due to the Fed sitting still on interest rates five times in a row. Trump has flung personal insults at Powell and mused about installing himself as Fed chair — and that was just one day this summer. He later toyed with firing Powell before backing off, an apparent recognition of the turmoil that would unleash in financial markets.

Trump later toured the Fed in a televised spectacle to inspect a renovation that's attracted considerable conservative scrutiny. But his offensive hasn't stopped there. On Wednesday, Trump demanded that Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook step down over mortgage fraud allegations. For her part, Cook said she will answer questions about her financial history but isn't resigning.