President Trump on Thursday claimed the Federal Reserve poses a bigger problem to the United States than China and that the central bank puts the country at a competitive disadvantage.
The president’s attack on the Fed and its chairman, Jerome Powell, comes after it lowered interest rates by a quarter-point in a move that aims to sustain economic expansion, now in its 11th year.
Trump, however, complained about the rate cut and claimed some are “very disappointed” in Powell and the Fed. The central bank, he added, has “called it wrong from the beginning.”
“Others are running circles around them and laughing all the way to the bank,” the president said in a series of tweets. “Dollar & Rates are hurting our manufacturers. We should have lower interest rates than Germany, Japan and all others. We are now, by far, the biggest and strongest Country, but the Fed puts us at a competitive disadvantage. China is not our problem, the Federal Reserve is! We will win anyway.”
….our manufacturers. We should have lower interest rates than Germany, Japan and all others. We are now, by far, the biggest and strongest Country, but the Fed puts us at a competitive disadvantage. China is not our problem, the Federal Reserve is! We will win anyway.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 31, 2019
The Fed’s rate cut was the third in a row and brings the target for short-term interest rates to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%.
Trump has broken from his predecessors in criticizing the Fed’s monetary policy considerations and has specifically taken aim at Powell, whom he tapped last year to replace Janet Yellen as chairwoman of the central bank. In the run-up to the Fed’s meeting in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, the president last week tweeted it would be “derelict in its duties” if the policymaking committee didn’t lower rates again.
He’s also called Powell and Fed officials “boneheads.”
