'The Fed has gone crazy': Trump rails against Federal Reserve over rate hikes amid market plunge
- President Donald Trump said he believes "the Fed has gone crazy" amid recent interest rate hikes.
- Trump's statement comes after stocks plunged on Wednesday. The Nasdaq Composite index and the Dow Jones dropped more than 4% and 800 points respectively.
- The Fed is expected to raise interest rate through the end of 2018 and into 2019
President Donald Trump signaled his anxiety about the Federal Reserve's plan to keep raising interest rates into 2019 after stocks plunged on Wednesday.
"I think the Fed is making a mistake," Trump said to reporters after landing in Erie, Pennsylvania, for a campaign rally on Wednesday. "They are so tight. I think the Fed has gone crazy."
After the Nasdaq Composite index and the Dow Jones dropped more than 4% and 800 points respectively on Wednesday, Trump said "it's a correction that we've been waiting for for a long time."
"But I really disagree with what the Fed is doing," Trump added.
The Federal Reserve has already increased rates three times in 2018, and eight times since the global financial crisis. It is also expected to raise rates again by the end of the year. The Fed is expected to raise interest rates at least three times in 2019, up from the two hikes that it forecasted in December.
Trump has previously criticized the Federal Reserve for its interest-rate hikes and said it did not "have to go as fast." His criticism breaks a longtime political tradition. Presidents normally do not publicly agitate over the Federal Reserve's moves in order to avoid the appearance of improperly influencing markets.