US President Donald Trump is "not happy" with the Federal Reserve raising interest rates but says he will allow the institution to carry on with its approach to monetary policy, according to remarks made in a television interview.
His statements immediately caused a stir and the White House was quick to issue a clarification that Trump "respects the independence" of the central bank.
"I'm not thrilled," Trump said about rising rates, in an interview with CNBC that is set to air in full on Friday.
"Because we go up (referring to the economy), and every time you go up, they want to raise rates again. I don't really - I am not happy about it. But at the same time I'm letting them do what they feel is best," Trump said about the central bank, which is an independent institution.
"But I don't like all of this work that goes into doing what we're doing."
The Federal Reserve would not comment on the president's remarks but people at the institution pointed to recent statements by Fed chairman Jerome "Jay" Powell.
"We do our work in a strictly non-political way, based on detailed analysis, which we put on the record transparently, and we don't ... take political considerations into account," he said on July 12.
"I would add though that no one in the administration has said anything to me that really gives me concern on this front. But this is deep in our DNA," Powell said.
Trump, a former real estate developer, has never been in favour of high interest rates.
"I do like low interest rates. I mean, you know, I'm not making that a big secret. I think low interest rates are good," he told the Wall Street Journal in 2017.
In the CNBC interview, Trump admitted his comments might rub some people the wrong way.
"I'm just saying the same thing that I would have said as a private citizen," he is quoted as saying. "So somebody would say, 'Oh, maybe you shouldn't say that as president.' I couldn't care less what they say because my views haven't changed."
The White House comment on his interview also noted that Trump has called Powell a "very good man" and that his remarks have been made before.
"The president's views on interest rates are well known and his comments today are a reiteration of those long-held positions, and public comments," the statement said, as read out by CNBC.
In April, Trump expressed concern that while the US was raising rates, countries like China and Russia were looking to devalue their currencies, calling that situation "unacceptable".
During the Great Recession, the Federal Reserve, like many other major central banks, cut rates to historic lows. The Fed has raised rates seven times in the past three years, as the economy recovers.
There is growing concern that the US economy is overheating, in particular because Trump and his Republican Party pushed through massive tax cuts last year that are acting as a stimulus, but whose effect will soon run out.
Trump appointed Powell last year and he was approved by the Senate in December. He took up his post in February, replacing Janet Yellen, the first woman to hold the job. She had served for four years before Trump opted against her renomination.
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