Welcome to meet the press now. I'm Kristen Welker in Washington, where President Trump's

economy is once again being put to the test with the Federal Reserve again slashing

interest rates in response

to sluggish job growth and an uncertain economic outlook as the President prepares for a high

stakes face-to-face meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the critical issue of trade.

Wall Street reacting to the news from the Fed with markets closing just moments ago, the Dow a bit lower after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell announced a quarter point cut to its benchmark interest rate in an effort to spur demand in the economy, making it the second consecutive time, the central bank cut interest rates this year.

In his press conference, Chair Powell also spoke about the impact of

delayed economic data due to the government shutdown. Take a look. Some important federal government

data have been delayed due to the shutdown. The public and private sector data that have remained

available suggests that the outlook for employment and inflation has not changed much since our meeting in

September. Conditions in the labor market appear to be gradually cooling, and inflation remains

somewhat elevated. Well, it all comes as we're only a few hours away from President Trump

and Chinese President Xi Jinping's meeting on the sidelines of the Asian Pacific Economic Forum in South Korea.

On meet the press this Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told me the U.S. and China have already

agreed to a framework of a trade deal. And while speaking to a gathering of executives gathered in

South Korea, President Trump similarly struck an optimistic note about the upcoming meeting.

The President Chief China is coming tomorrow here, and we're going to be, I hope, making a deal.

I think we're going to have a deal. I think it'll be a good deal for both. I'll be meeting him

tomorrow. A lot of people are interested. They're also interested in what we're doing, but they're

interested in that. I can, but they're interested in

that. I can tell you a lot. The world is watching. And I think we'll have something that's very

exciting for everybody. Following those remarks, President Trump was overheard telling South Korea's

...