Economics

Trump’s Fed Bashing Could Backfire by Stiffening Rate-Hike Resolve

President says he’s ‘not happy’ with interest-rate hikes
Breaks with White House tradition of allowing Fed independence

Peter Conti-Brown, a Federal Reserve historian, discusses President Trump’s criticism of the Fed’s rate hikes.(Source: Bloomberg)

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By Christopher Condon and Rich Miller

July 19, 2018 at 9:17 PM UTC

Updated on

July 20, 2018 at 4:00 AM UTC

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President Donald Trump’s extraordinary broadside against the Federal Reserve on Thursday may end up getting him exactly what he doesn’t want: higher interest rates.

Confronted with a burst of presidential pressure not seen for decades to keep monetary policy easy, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and his colleagues on the Federal Open Market Committee may feel more inclined to demonstrate their political independence and hike rates when facing a close decision.