Dollar Drops Vs. Rivals After Trump Says It's 'too Strong'

The dollar tumbled Wednesday afternoon after President Donald Trump said during an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the greenback is "getting too strong." The U.S. currency touched a fresh five-month low against the yen, trading as low as 109.13 yen after the interview was published. By comparison, it traded at 109.62 yen late Tuesday in New York. The euro traded at $1.0658, compared with $1.0604 late Tuesday. The pound strengthened to $1.2524, compared with $1.2491. In the interview, Trump said the dollar's post-election rise was partially his fault "because people have confidence in me." He added that "it's very, very hard to compete when you have a strong dollar and other countries are devaluing their currency." Trump also said he wouldn't label China a currency manipulator because it hasn't been manipulating its currency for months and because it could jeopardize his talks with Beijing about containing North Korea. This isn't the first time Trump has discussed his views on the dollar with The Wall Street Journal: He made similar remarks in an interview published shortly before the inauguration. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin later told the WSJ that dollar strength was "a good thing."