Kudlow defends Trump attacks on Fed: ‘Nothing wrong with him weighing in’

Top White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow on Sunday defended President Trump’s attacks against the Federal Reserve, saying that there is “nothing wrong” with Trump weighing in and giving his opinion.

Kudlow said on “Fox News Sunday” that Trump, who has criticized the Federal Reserve for hiking interests rates, “respects the Fed’s independence.”

“What the president is raising here, in the matter of interest rating timing and so forth, a lot of people are discussing this. People on Wall Street, people in academia,” he said.

{mosads}”There’s a whole lot of news articles. Some agree, some disagree. He’s just weighing in. There’s nothing wrong with him weighing in,” Kudlow continued.

Trump in July broke two decades of White House silence on the Fed’s policy when he said he was “not thrilled” about interest rate hikes, and last week he escalated his attacks amid a steep stock market slide.

Trump last week blamed the Fed for the stock market slide, saying that the central bank had “gone crazy” and was making a mistake with its “ridiculous” rate hikes. He also said last week that the Fed is “going wild.”

Kudlow, who said last week that Trump isn’t giving orders to the Fed, said Sunday that the president is giving his opinion “as a successful businessman.” 

“The president as a successful businessman and investor knows a lot about these topics and he’s giving his opinion. His concern is that the Fed might move too quickly and might choke off the economic recovery,” Kudlow said.

“He’s not impinging on Fed independence. He didn’t say, ‘I want you to change your plan.’ He didn’t say, ‘I want you to change your strategy,'” he added.