If U.S. President Donald Trump could pick his ideal central banker, chances are he’d be eyeing a Sanjay Malhotra dossier. The new governor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has just pulled off a rare hat-trick: three straight rate cuts this year, capped with a surprise 50-bps reduction that brought the repo rate down to 5.5%. That’s 100 basis points of easing in barely six months—exactly the kind of full-throttle monetary support Trump’s been loudly demanding back home.

In fact, despite a better-than-expected U.S. jobs report, Trump took to Truth Social to call for the Fed to slash rates by a full percentage point. "'Too Late' at the Fed is a disaster! Europe has had 10 rate cuts, we have had none. Despite him, our Country is doing great. Go for a full point, Rocket Fuel!" The Fed has left the key policy rate untouched in the 4.25%-4.50% range, since the 25 bps cut in December.

But there’s a catch. Malhotra’s India has the macro room to ease, Powell’s America doesn’t.

India’s inflation has been trending comfortably down—core prices are softening, food inflation is tame, and global commodity costs are easing. The RBI now expects headline inflation to undershoot the 4% target for most of the year. That gave Malhotra a clean runway to stimulate demand and support investment without spooking the bond market.

In the U.S., Jerome Powell has no such luxury. While the April core PCE index—the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge—cooled slightly to 2.5% (from 2.7% in March), it’s still above target. And Powell knows better than to declare victory just yet. Sticky services inflation, strong wage growth, and a robust jobs report (139,000 jobs added in May) suggest the U.S. economy is anything but cooling.

Besides, Trump’s re-election playbook is adding new complications. His tariff googlies threaten to push prices higher just as inflation was beginning to ease. The effects may not show up immediately, but Powell knows how this plays out—tariffs seep into supply chains, raise import costs, and keep the Fed boxed in.

If you go by Trump’s rhetoric, rate cuts are a silver bullet for growth. But Powell’s hands are tied by the data—and increasingly, by politics. Any premature cut risks looking like a concession to pressure from the White House, especially as Trump ramps up his critique of Fed independence.

Malhotra, on the other hand, didn’t just cut—he frontloaded. He acted on the basis of clearly improving inflation dynamics and a softening global backdrop.

At its heart, this is a story of contrast. Malhotra is cutting rates because inflation is falling, and growth needs support. Powell is holding back because inflation is proving sticky—and the political environment is anything but stable.

Trump may love Malhotra’s playbook, but what he’s handed Powell is a policy minefield. In that sense, Trump doesn’t just lack a Malhotra-he’s the reason Powell can’t be one.