Fed officials, including Chairman Jerome Powell, have raised interest rates twice this year and have pointed to two more before the end of 2018. The Fed did not comment on the president’s remarks Thursday.
After Trump’s criticism of the central bank aired on Thursday, the White House sent a statement to clarify the president’s remarks.
“Of course the President respects the independence of the Fed. As he said he considers the Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell a very good man and that he is not interfering with Fed policy decisions,” the statement said. “The President’s views on interest rates are well known and his comments today are a reiteration of those long held positions, and public comments.”
But then Trump hit the Fed again on Friday in the tweet.
The U.S. dollar fell and stock futures declined slightly as the president doubled down on his criticism of the central bank.
Earlier in his series of tweets, Trump also said multiple nations are manipulating currencies to the detriment of the U.S.
“China, the European Union and others have been manipulating their currencies and interest rates lower, while the U.S. is raising rates while the dollars gets stronger and stronger with each passing day – taking away our big competitive edge. As usual, not a level playing field…,” he said on Twitter.
— CNBC’s Jeff Cox contributed to this report.
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