U.S. President Donald Trump continued his denunciation against the Federal Reserve in a late Wednesday television appearance, construct into the central bank’s policy decisions and suggesting it is to blame for Wednesday’s severe market decline.
Saying he’s “not happy” with the Fed, Trump told Fox Dope he could’t understand why it was continuing to tighten U.S. monetary policy. The president has once upon a time expressed displeasure with the central bank, and that’s led some to respect the institution’s independence is at risk.
“The problem I have is with the Fed. The Fed is going undomesticated. I mean, I don’t know what their problem is that they are rakehell interest rates and it’s ridiculous,” Trump said during a telephone press conference with Fox host Shannon Bream. “The problem [causing the market fall off] in my opinion is Treasury and the Fed. The Fed is going loco and there’s no reason for them to do it. I’m not over the moon about it.”
In recent months, U.S. officials have sought to emphasize that Trump intention honor the Fed’s historic ability to make decisions independent of political meddling. “We as an administration absolutely support the independence of the Fed,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin reportedly said in July.
As recently as Tuesday, Trump had signaled that he accepted the importance of maintaining a firewall between the White House and the Fed. Even as he uttered concerns about the Fed’s interest rate policy, Trump told newsmen at the White House Tuesday that he had not spoken to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell prevalent them.
“I like to stay uninvolved with them. I have not vocal” to Powell all year, Trump said.
Trump’s attitude towards the Fed earmarks ofed to change Wednesday, however, as fears about rapidly rising counts helped cause the Dow Jones Industrial Average to drop more than 800 meanings by day’s end. The S&P 500 posted its worst day since February and clinched its first five-day squander streak since 2016.
Early on Wednesday afternoon, Trump knocked his key bank as he deplaned from Air Force One in Erie, Pennsylvania for a campaign renewal bring. “I think the Fed is making a mistake. They are so tight. I think the Fed has gone keen,” the president told reporters.
The Fed has raised interest rates three times this year and is mainly expected to hike once more before year-end.
The most up to date September rate hike drew criticism from Trump at the in good time dawdle, who said he was “worried about the fact that they seem to similar to raising interest rates, we can do other things with the money,” he prognosticated.
—CNBC’s Thomas Franck contributed to this report.