President Donald Trump expressed hope the Federal Reserve had finished raising interest rates, two days after policy makers scaled back their projected hikes this year to zero and one in 2020.
“Hopefully now we won’t do the tightening,” Trump told Fox Business Network, according to an emailed transcript.
Trump has regularly used speeches and tweets to lobby Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and colleagues not to tighten monetary policy, arguing doing so would jeopardize the economic expansion.
The Fed on Wednesday reversed its stance by signaling it may not increase its benchmark again this year and saying it would end the drawdown of its bond holdings in September.
Trump told Fox that his earlier warnings had proven “right” although he doubted he had “influenced” the central bank. He said the economic expansion should still have been faster than it has been.
“We have tremendous potential as a country,” Trump said. “Our companies are doing phenomenally well. The earnings are great. We have the greatest companies in the world. We’re not being treated properly by other countries.”
