A Timeline of the Fed’s Rate Hikes and Trump’s Comments on Them

(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has come under increasing pressure from President Donald Trump over the central bank’s gradual increase of interest rates. Trump has said the hikes will stifle the economy’s growth. Powell hasn’t publicly responded.

Here’s a timeline of key events and comments:

Nov. 2, 2017

At the Rose Garden ceremony marking his nomination by Trump to the chairmanship, Powell was careful to slip into his remarks a reference to the Fed’s independence: “I strongly share that sense of mission and am committed to making decisions with objectivity and based on the best available evidence, in the longstanding tradition of monetary policy independence.” Trump said he picked Powell because “he’s strong. He’s committed. He’s smart.”

Dec. 13, 2017

The Fed raises rates by a quarter percentage point.

March 21, 2018

The Fed raises rates by a quarter point.

June 13, 2018

The Fed raises rates by a quarter point.

July 19

The president makes his first critical remarks about the Fed. “I’m not thrilled” the central bank is raising borrowing costs and potentially slowing the economy, he says in an interview with CNBC. “I don’t like all of this work that we’re putting into the economy and then I see rates going up."

July 20

Trump takes to social media to take another shot at the Fed. “China, the European Union and others have been manipulating their currencies and interest rates lower, while the U.S. is raising rates while the dollars gets stronger and stronger with each passing day -- taking away our big competitive edge," Trump tweets. “The United States should not be penalized because we are doing so well.”

Aug. 20

In private remarks at a fund-raiser on Long Island Trump says he expected Powell to be a cheap-money Fed chairman and lamented to wealthy Republican donors that his nominee instead had raised interest rates, according to three people present.

Aug. 30

“We are not being accommodated,” Trump says in an interview with Bloomberg News in the Oval Office. “I don’t like that.” 

“That being said,” he continues, “I’m not sure the currency should be controlled by a politician.” He also says he didn’t regret appointing Powell.

Sept. 10

Trump slams Fed policy during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, complaining “they’re so tight. I think the Fed has gone crazy.” He later said during a telephone interview on Fox News that the central bank was “going loco” for raising rates.

Sept. 26

The Fed raises rates by a quarter point.

Sept. 26

“We are doing great as a country,” Trump says at a press conference in New York. “Unfortunately they just raised interest rates a little bit because we are doing so well. I am not happy about that.”

Oct. 16

In a Fox Business Network interview, Trump calls the Fed his “biggest threat,” again criticizing the central bank for endangering economic growth through interest-rate hikes. Trump says the central bank is “independent so I don’t speak to them, but I’m not happy with what he’s doing because it’s going too fast.”

Oct. 23

The president tells The Wall Street Journal he “maybe” regrets appointing Powell to head the Fed. He declines to say what circumstances would cause him to want to remove Powell, but adds, “I’m not going to fire him.”

Trump says he was intentionally sending a direct message to Powell that he wanted lower interest rates, even as he acknowledged that the central bank is an independent entity.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christopher Condon in Washington at ccondon4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alister Bull at abull7@bloomberg.net;Brendan Murray at brmurray@bloomberg.net

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