Trump complained about the US dollar's strength throughout 2019 - but these 8 major currencies were even stronger

REUTERS/Fredy Builes

A member of the Technical Investigation team holds a negative of a hundred-dollar bill used to print fake dollars in Caldas town in Medellin April 29, 2010.

• President Trump complained about the US dollar's strength several times in 2019, but eight major currencies are set to outperform the dollar this year.
• The US dollar index (DXY) is up more than 1% year-to-date, rising despite summer recession fears and trade war tensions.
• Here are the eight major currencies to gain more value against the dollar in 2019, from the Singapore dollar to the Russian ruble.
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

President Trump railed against the US dollar's relative strength through much of 2019, but eight major currencies are on track to outperform the dollar this year.

The US dollar index DXY is up roughly 1.2% in the year-to-date, surging in strength despite summer recession warnings and continued trade war tensions. It performed best against the Turkish lira this year, a Bank of America note comparing major currencies said Friday.

Trump reportedly asked White House aides to look into ways to devalue the American currency in early July. A weaker dollar would give the US an advantage in international trade, but currency manipulation would also cut into the country's reputation abroad. Trump even critiqued China in the summer for how its central bank allowed the yuan to slip below a key psychological level in early August.

Here are the eight major currencies that outperformed the US dollar in 2019, ranked in ascending order. Performance is as of December 11.