President Trump on Tuesday put more pressure on the Federal Reserve not to raise interest rates, one day before the Fed was expected to ignore his advice.
“I hope the people over at the Fed will read today’s Wall Street Journal Editorial before they make yet another mistake,” Trump tweeted. “Also, don’t let the market become any more illiquid than it already is. Stop with the 50 B’s. Feel the market, don’t just go by meaningless numbers. Good luck!”
The Fed is expected to raise rates by a quarter of a point on Wednesday, to a target rate of 2.5 percent. That will mean higher borrowing costs for consumers in a bid to ward off inflation.
Trump’s message appeared to argue that the Fed should be more mindful of the falling U.S. stock market. But he also noted the Wall Street Journal op-ed, which said there’s “simply no sign of an inflation breakout.”
“The Fed’s favorite inflation measure, the PCE deflator, has been falling for months,” the Journal wrote. “The dollar is strong, both against gold and the world’s other major currencies.”
Trump issued a similar warning on Monday, when he said raising rates again makes no sense with “the outside world blowing up around us.”
