Trump attacks Fed chair's 'horrendous lack of vision'
President Donald Trump renewed his attack on the Federal Reserve on Monday, lambasting his appointee, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, for a "horrendous lack of vision" and calling for the central bank to slash rates by one full percentage point.
Our Economy is very strong, despite the horrendous lack of vision by Jay Powell and the Fed, but the Democrats are trying to “will” the Economy to be bad for purposes of the 2020 Election. Very Selfish! Our dollar is so strong that it is sadly hurting other parts of the world...
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2019
"The Fed Rate, over a fairly short period of time, should be reduced by at least 100 basis points, with perhaps some quantitative easing as well. If that happened, our Economy would be even better, and the World Economy would be greatly and quickly enhanced-good for everyone!" Trump tweeted on Monday morning.
The president's comments are the latest in a long line of attacks on the Fed — an independent agency which, like other central banks around the world, is insulated from short-term political interests — and its key decision-makers, several of whom are his own appointees.
"Our Economy is very strong, despite the horrendous lack of vision by Jay Powell and the Fed, but the Democrats are trying to “will” the Economy to be bad for purposes of the 2020 Election. Very Selfish!" the president wrote.
At its most recent meeting, in July, the Fed cut its benchmark borrowing rate by 0.25 percentage points, a move that Chairman Powell noted was not due to any "political considerations" but rather the result of mounting economic metrics that indicate a global slowdown in growth that would eventually hit the U.S.
Financial markets are expecting at least one more rate cut this year when the Fed next meets, on Sept. 17-18. Some members of the Federal Open Market Committee, which votes on rate changes, are also pushing for a second rate cut, likely in December.
Trump has expressed increasing frustration with the Fed, which has raised rates seven times during his presidency. With the economy as the central focus of his re-election campaign for 2020, Trump is keen to keep the economy on an even keel.
Trump blamed the Fed for last week's market plunge, and has said "the stock market would be 10,000 points higher" if the Fed had followed a different strategy.
