 "Donald Trump")
US President Donald Trump on Thursday told CNBC that he was unhappy about the Federal Reserve's decision to hike interest rates, saying he was concerned about their potential impact on the US economy and American competitiveness.
"I'm not thrilled," he said in an interview on the television network. "Because we go up 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."
"I don't like all of this work that we're putting into the economy and then I see rates going up," he said.
Trump added that he was concerned that the Fed's rate hikes may put the United States at a "disadvantage" while the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank keep their monetary policy loose.
This was not the first time Trump departed from a long-standing practice of US presidents steering clear of commenting on Fed policy and the value of the dollar, a custom he dismissed on Thursday.
"Now I'm just saying the same thing that I would have said as a private citizen," he said. "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."
Later, in a statement, the White House said Trump respects the Fed's independence and is not interfering with its policy decisions.
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The US dollar index cut its gains after Trump's comments, while yields on US Treasury securities hit session lows. US stock prices also briefly pared losses after news of his remarks.
'A VERY GOOD MAN'
The Fed has raised interest rates five times since Trump took office in January 2017, extending the campaign it began in 2015.
The US central bank last raised borrowing costs in June, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday repeated his oft-stated view that rates will keep climbing gradually.
Trump tapped Powell, who had served as a governor at the US central bank, to serve at its helm following Janet Yellen. In his remarks to CNBC, Trump called Powell "a very good man."
He has further reshaped the Fed's leadership by appointing its vice chair for regulation and nominating two more Fed governors, both mainstream economists.
Most Fed policymakers see the US job market as close to full strength, while inflation has recently risen to the Fed's 2 per cent target. US central bankers project two more rate increases this year and another three hikes in 2019.
The Fed has kept interest rates abnormally low by modern standards since the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The main concern is that the central bank will not have enough room to cut rates dramatically in the event of a deep recession, rather than rates that are too high now.
TRUMP SLAMS EU
US President Donald Trump on Thursday criticized the European Union over a record $5 billion fine EU antitrust regulators imposed on Google, saying the bloc was taking advantage of the United States.
EU officials on Wednesday also ordered Google to stop using its popular Android mobile operating system to block its rivals, adding to trade tensions between Washington and Brussels.
Trump took to Twitter over the decision: "I told you so! The European Union just slapped a Five Billion Dollar fine on one of our great companies, Google. They truly have taken advantage of the US , but not for long!"
In an interview aired on Sunday by CBS, Trump labelled the EU a "foe" with regard to trade.
Two former antitrust enforcers said it was unusual but not unheard of for officials to comment on decisions by enforcers in other jurisdictions.
"This is totally counterproductive. Whether or not you like the result, this is law enforcement in Europe and we wouldn't like anyone interfering with law enforcement in the US ," said Gene Kimmelman, a Justice Department veteran now with advocacy group Public Knowledge. "I see it doing no good for Google or anyone else."
William Kovacic, a former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission who teaches at the George Washington University Law School, agreed it was unusual but not unheard of.
In 2015 former President Barack Obama said in an interview with Recode that the EU was sometimes "more commercially driven than anything else" in its probes of US tech companies, including Google.
In 1997, former Vice President Al Gore took up the cudgel against the EU on behalf of a planned merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, saying that the United States was "watching the outcome of their (EU) deliberations extremely carefully," the New York Times reported at the time. The deal closed in August 1997.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is scheduled to meet with Trump at the White House next Wednesday to discuss trade and other issues.
Google said it would appeal against the EU decision. The 4.34 billion euro ($5 billion) fine is nearly double the previous penalty that the company was ordered to pay last year, but it represents a little more than two weeks of revenue for its parent company, Alphabet Inc
