Trump not happy with rate cut

Posted on: July 31, 2019 at 16:10:06 CT

President Trump blasted Powell on Twitter Wednesday afternoon for not going far enough, the latest in his ongoing attacks on the Fed that began last summer even though the president appointed the vast majority of the Fed’s leadership board, including Powell.

“What the Market wanted to hear from Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve was that this was the beginning of a lengthy and aggressive rate-cutting cycle which would keep pace with China, The European Union and other countries around the world. As usual, Powell let us down,” Trump tweeted.

Trump and Wall Street investors have been calling for large interest rate cuts by the end of the year. Powell refused to promise that Wednesday and left it unclear how much more stimulus the Fed is willing to inject.

Powell is facing sharp criticism on multiple fronts with Trump threatening to demote him as Fed chair, a move that would be unlikely to stand up in court, Wall Street pushing for more cuts and members of the Fed’s policy-setting committee disagreeing with him. Two Fed leaders voted against the rate cut Wednesday because they think the economy is healthy enough that it doesn’t need extra stimulus.