President Trump again weighed in on the Federal Reserve’s conduct of monetary policy Monday, warning Chairman Jerome Powell against raising interest rates in the latest example of his willingness to break precedent and lobby the central bank.
“I’m not thrilled with his raising of interest rates, no. I’m not thrilled,” Trump said in an an interview with Reuters.
Trump’s comments are the latest in a string of criticisms he’s made of Powell’s plans to gradually raise interest rates. Powell, a Trump appointee, has raised the Fed’s target rate twice this year and set expectations for two more increases before the end of the year.
Trump complained at a fundraising event on Friday that Powell has not favored easy money as Trump had hoped, according to Bloomberg. Throughout his campaign and presidency, Trump, a former real estate magnate, has said that he favors low interest rates and cheap credit.
Recent presidents have set the protocol that White House officials avoid commenting on the Fed in order to allow the central bank to conduct monetary policy without political influence.
Yet, further in the past, presidents have clashed with Fed chairmen, especially over tax cuts. Tighter monetary policy and fiscal stimulus, such as tax reductions, work toward opposite ends.
Before Trump’s latest comments, Powell said that he was not concerned about potential political interference with his management of the money supply.
