By Rebecca Ballhaus

WASHINGTON -- President Trump said the Federal Reserve "doesn't know what it is doing" and compared the U.S. central bank to a "stubborn child" in a pair of tweets on Monday, after the bank opted not to cut interest rates during its two-day meeting last week.

"Think of what it could have been if the Fed had gotten it right," Mr. Trump wrote. "Now they stick, like a stubborn child, when we need rates cuts, & easing, to make up for what countries are doing against us. Blew it!"

Mr. Trump told reporters on Thursday of the Fed's decision not to cut rates last week: "They should have done it sooner, but what are you going to do?" But he added that he was encouraged the central bankers seemed ready to deliver rate reductions at coming meetings, referring to projections from Fed officials and statements from Chairman Jerome Powell suggesting that they were leaning toward rate cuts as soon as July.

A Fed spokesman declined to comment on Monday.

Fed officials last week said they believed the economy was strong enough to handle the current setting of short-term interest rates but that they were ready to cut rates if the economic outlook didn't soon improve. Mr. Powell cited uncertainty over the prospect of new tariffs as a chief threat to the growth picture.

"It's really trade developments and concerns about global growth that are on our minds," he said at a press conference Wednesday.

The Fed operates independently of the White House, and until last year, presidents over the previous 25 years refrained from commenting on rate decisions.

Mr. Trump, in contrast, has repeatedly called for the Fed to cut its benchmark rate, currently in a range between 2.25% and 2.5%, by 1 percentage point.

Mr. Powell, whom Mr. Trump appointed, said Wednesday he didn't believe the law gave Mr. Trump the authority to remove him.

"I have a four-year term, and I fully intend to serve it," he said.

Write to Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 24, 2019 10:19 ET (14:19 GMT)

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