The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut the benchmark lending rate for the second time this year.

In a Federal Open Market Committee(FOMC) meeting, the Fed decided to slash the benchmark rate by a quarter-point to a target range of one-point-75 to two percent. 

The rate cut came two months after the Fed lowered the policy interest rate by 25 basis points, the first cut since December 2008.

Announcing the most recent rate cut, the FOMC said in a statement that although "household spending has been rising at a strong pace, business fixed investment and exports have weakened." It added that on a 12-month basis, overall inflation is running below two percent. 

U.S. President Donald Trump immediately criticized the Fed on Twitter, claiming that the Federal Reserve and its chief Jay Powell are terrible communicators that “failed again” and are without “guts” or “sense.”