Trump slams Fed Chair Powell: 'He’s like a golfer who can’t putt'

Updated Wed, Aug 21, 2019, 7:17 AM

“Doing great with China and other Trade Deals. The only problem we have is Jay Powell and the Fed. He’s like a golfer who can’t putt, has no touch. Big U.S. growth if he does the right thing, BIG CUT - but don’t count on him! So far he has called it wrong, and only let us down....We are competing with many countries that have a far lower interest rate, and we should be lower than them. Yesterday, “highest Dollar in U.S.History.” No inflation. Wake up Federal Reserve. Such growth potential, almost like never before!”

The tweets come just hours before the Fed is set to release the minutes of its July meeting. The minutes provide more details on the Fed’s thinking during that meeting, which was when the Fed announced its first rate cut since 2008. The tweets also come just two days before Powell is set to deliver a closely watched speech at an annual central bank conference in Jackson Hole, Wyo.

U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as Jerome Powell, his nominee to become chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 2, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

The next opportunity for the Fed to cut interest rates comes in one month, during the next FOMC meeting on Sept. 18.

In a press conference following the Fed’s July 31 meeting, Powell was asked by reporters about President Trump’s criticism, in which Powell reiterated the central bank’s independence, saying:

“We never take into account political considerations. There’s no place in our discussions for that. We also don’t conduct monetary policy in order to prove our independence. We conduct monetary policy in order to—to move as close as possible to our statutory goals, and that’s what we’re always going to do.”

This was not the first time Trump used golf to express his feelings about Powell.

Scott Gamm is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @ScottGamm.

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