Trump offers unprecedented criticism of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hikes

(Image credit: Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

published 19 July 2018

President Trump is "not happy" with rising interest rates from the Federal Reserve.

CNBC reported Thursday that Trump is frustrated with the central bank and concerned that interest rate hikes could disrupt the economic growth that he so often touts.

"I'm not thrilled," he told CNBC in an interview that the network will air on Friday. "Because we go up and every time you go up they want to raise rates again. I am not happy about it. But at the same time I'm letting them do what they feel is best." Trump claimed that the rate hikes were damaging his administration's efforts, saying he doesn't "like all of this work that we're putting into the economy and then I see rates going up."

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Former Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher said that "no president should interfere with the workings of the Fed," citing the "hallmark" independence of the central bank. Trump acknowledged that most officials wouldn't publicly criticize the Fed, but shrugged off any negativity. "So somebody would say, 'Oh, maybe you shouldn't say that as president,'" he said. "I couldn't care less what they say," he continued, because "I'm just saying the same thing that I would have said as a private citizen." Read more at CNBC.

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Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.

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