Trump Names Federal Reserve as His 'Biggest Threat' for Raising Interest Rates

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – President Donald Trump said in an interview on Tuesday that his worst enemy is the Federal Reserve because its current chairman Jerome Powell, whom he appointed earlier this year, is raising interest rates too fast.

“My biggest threat is the Fed because the Fed is raising interest rates too fast and it’s independent so I don’t speak to him [Powell], but I’m not happy with what he’s been doing because it’s been going too fast,” Trump said.

The Fed has already raised short-term interest rates three times this year and is expected to do so again in December in an effort to keep inflation in check. The institution has also predicted that it expects to raise rate three times next year and again at least once in 2020.

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Trump acknowledged that Powell had been his personal choice to head the Fed. “I’m not blaming anybody. I put him there,” he said.

Auto loan rates are at their highest level since 2009 and 30-year fixed mortgage rates are now at their highest point since 2011.