President Trump condemned the Federal Reserve early Christmas Eve as the stock market dipped on Monday’s short trading day amid interest rate concerns and federal government shutdown drama.
“The only problem our economy has is the Fed. They don’t have a feel for the Market, they don’t understand necessary Trade Wars or Strong Dollars or even Democrat Shutdowns over Borders,” Trump said in a tweet Monday. “The Fed is like a powerful golfer who can’t score because he has no touch – he can’t putt!”
The only problem our economy has is the Fed. They don’t have a feel for the Market, they don’t understand necessary Trade Wars or Strong Dollars or even Democrat Shutdowns over Borders. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who can’t score because he has no touch – he can’t putt!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 24, 2018
The attack comes after Bloomberg News reported late Friday that Trump had discussed firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell amid frustration at the stock market’s meltdown in December.
In two tweets posted Saturday evening, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that he’d spoken to Trump about Powell on Saturday and that Trump told him, “I never suggested firing Chairman Jay Powell, nor do I believe I have the right to do so.”
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told the Washington Examiner that she’s “aware of no plans” to fire Powell.
White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, who is the incoming acting White House chief of staff, said in an interview Sunday with ABC News that Trump “now realizes” he can’t fire Powell.
The president’s tweet also comes after the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened on Monday’s short trading day down 338 points, or 1.5 percent.
Stocks dipped sharply lower Monday after Mnuchin unexpectedly announced Sunday that he had spoken to the CEOs of the six largest U.S. banks about market stability. The executives of J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup assured him that “they have ample liquidity available for lending to consumer, business markets, and all other market operations,” Mnuchin wrote.
Market watchers have expressed little concern that there would be a run on banks — which precipitated the financial crisis of 2008.
“A run on the banks is when people are afraid money won’t be liquid, so they start withdrawing money, like Lehman Brothers, so they had to go to the Fed for extra cash, which is essentially a bailout,” U.S. Global Investors head trader Michael Matousek told ABC News.
“There’s a difference between now and then because we didn’t have stress testing like we do now,” Matousek added. “We have so much stress testing, they’re so regulated, when I saw he was calling the banks, that just tells me the administration is a little unsure of what’s going on.”
The stock market has so far had its worse December performance since the Great Depression.
To add to economic worries, the federal government partially shutdown at 12 a.m. Saturday due to a showdown between Congress and the White House concerning funding for a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
The New York Stock Exchange closes early on Monday at 1 p.m. Eastern for Christmas Eve, and it is closed on Tuesday for Christmas.
The Senate is expected to convene Thursday to work towards a compromise, and the House has indicated there will be no votes before then.
