If you were curious as to whether Donald Trump is satisfied now that Jerome Powell has managed to get stocks back to record highs while simultaneously driving long-term borrowing costs to their lowest levels since the election (which is notable considering Trump holds the all-time record for most interest paid in a single year) the answer is: “Hell no.”
A day after America was treated to more Fed bashing courtesy of the president’s full interview with Chuck Todd, Trump took to Twitter to deliver what might fairly be described as one of his most bombastic attacks on the central bank yet.
“Despite a Federal Reserve that doesn’t know what it is doing – raised rates far too fast (very low inflation, other parts of world slowing, lowering & easing) & did large scale tightening, $50 Billion/month, we are on course to have one of the best Months of June in US history”, Trump declared.
It wasn’t immediately clear what he meant by that latter bit about June.
In case you haven’t been following along, this particular “month of June” brought the largest MoM plunge in the Empire manufacturing index on record, worsening tensions with Beijing and, of course, a series of dangerous escalations in the Mideast that pushed the US to brink of war with Iran.
That, apparently, is what counts as “one of the best Months of June in US history”.
And Trump wasn’t done with the Fed. Not by a long shot.
He went on to implore Americans to consider the mind-boggling possibility that, as wonderful as this “month of June” has already been, it could have been even better were it not for the Fed.
“Think of what it could have been if the Fed had gotten it right”, Trump said. In case you don’t have much of an imagination, Trump spells it out for you, berating the central bank in the process:
Thousands of points higher on the Dow, and GDP in the 4’s or even 5’s. Now they stick, like a stubborn child, when we need rates cuts, & easing, to make up for what other countries are doing against us. Blew it!
The phrase “beyond the pale” is no longer even close to adequate when it comes to describing Trump’s assault on Powell.
As ever, the saving grace is the abject buffoonery inherent in Trump’s irritated screed. Minutes earlier, he reiterated the idea that the rest of the world should thank him for protecting key shipping lanes from Iran’s navy.
“China gets 91% of its Oil from the Straight”, Trump said. “Straight”.
yes, “straight” outta crazytown.
“GDP could be in the 4’s or 5’s”
That’s not even a sentence! (old news, considering the source, I know)
OK, so now that there is more easing just around the corner, everyone should be buying the next dip, right?
Plese tell me I’m not the only one who has a really bad feeling about this…
There is a sense of desperation in the air….. Sometimes it feels as though everyone thinks that getting Trump gone is an ultimate answer….but it is not…Trump is the symptom of this desperation not the cause…The cause best I can surmise is that 40 years of unchallenged manipulation mostly for profit has altered constitutional protections as well as the ability to prevail on a level playing field when confronted with formidable opposition.. This is not just about the US , other nations have equal dilemmas simultaneously so it is a zero sum game in a shrinking planet … I am not certain there is a win -win resolution in store because I am not sure that is ANYONES intent….The drama continues but only for a little while longer…..
If business was so GREAT in June, the Fed would be tightening, not thinking of easing. Duh.
Problem is with the use of the word thinking…LOL
42-45% of the country will believe this. They will never get it strait……………
There he goes again, projecting – “stubborn child”