Trump urges Fed to 'feel the market' before hiking interest rates
President Trump encouraged policymakers at the Federal Reserve to “feel the markets” before a two-day policy meeting that concludes Wednesday, during which they’re widely expected to raise interest rates.
“I hope the people over at the Fed will read today’s Wall Street Journal Editorial before they make yet another mistake,” Trump wrote. “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 Wall Street Journal editorial that he’s referring to -- “Time for a Fed pause” -- made the case that pausing interest rate hikes is in the best interest for the U.S. economy.
“Some of our friends fret that if the Fed stops now, it will never get back to normal. But it will surely never do so if there’s a near-term recession,” the editorial said. “The best way to normalize is to keep the expansion going as long as possible without inflation.”
Trump has been a vocal critic of Fed policy, saying that Chairman Jerome Powell is responsible for curtailing economic growth.
"So far, I’m not even a little bit happy with my selection of Jay," Trump said in November during an interview with The Washington Post. ”Not even a little bit. And I’m not blaming anybody, but I’m just telling you I think that the Fed is way off-base with what they’re doing."
So far this year, policymakers have voted to hike the benchmark federal funds rate three times, increasingly drawing the ire of Trump, who’s warned that if interest rates are too high, it could derail economic growth. The Fed is expected to raise the rate again this week, bringing the yearly total to four.