Trump doubles down on Fed criticism

Republican front-runner Donald Trump is doubling down on his criticism of Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, who he accuses of not raising interest rates at the behest of President Obama.

Trump told Bloomberg News’s Stephanie Ruhle that Yellen is a “very political person” and that she is holding off raising key short-term rates “with the blessing of the president, because he doesn’t want to have a recession or worse in his administration.”

{mosads}“You know what they’re doing, Janet Yellen, for political reasons, is keeping the interest rate so low that the next guy, the poor person who takes over as president could have a real problem because this is a political thing,” he said.

Trump offered similar comments this week in an interview with The Hill, saying Yellen was barely keeping the economy going.

The central bank decided last month to wait on raising interest rates amid weak global economic data combined with domestic uncertainty, including a slow down in jobs growth over the past couple of months.

While Yellen has said that the Fed wants to raise short-term rates before the end of the year, there is a growing sense that the decision may get pushed to early next year.

“When they get raised, perhaps with the next president, you’re going to see some bad things happen,” Trump said.

In a wide-ranging interview, Trump also said he would let global leaders call him.

“I may not call any global leaders,” he said. “I think I’d probably have them call me.

“I know more about diplomacy than anybody,” he added.

Trump has previously called Obama’s foreign policy “a disaster” and said the president isn’t respected by foreign leaders.

If elected, Trump repeated that he would choose billionaire investor Carl Icahn for his Treasury secretary, calling him “a great business leader, a very smart cookie, a great guy.”

In August, Icahn said he would take the job.