WASHINGTON: USPresident Donald Trump on Tuesday marked Christmas with a renewed attack on thecentral bank over plunging stocks, as he aired a catalogue of grievances in adownbeat gathering at the Oval Office. High on the laundry list was theDemocrats, whom he blamed for a partial government shutdown which dragged intoits fourth day-paralyzing key federal services such as national parks-with noend in sight.
Trump on Tuesdayexpressed confidence in Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin amid worries over aweakening economy and a stock market slump, but repeated his criticism of theUS Federal Reserve, saying it has raised interest rates too quickly. Speakingto reporters in the Oval Office after a Christmas video conference with UStroops deployed abroad, Trump also said US companies were "the greatest inthe world" and presented a "tremendous" buying opportunity.
Asked if he hasconfidence in Mnuchin, Trump said: "Yes, I do. Very talented guy. Verysmart person," he said. His comments came after Mnuchin on Monday held aconference call with US regulators to discuss plunging US stock markets.
The call did moreto rattle markets than to assure them. All three major US stock indexes endeddown more than 2 percent on the day before the Christmas holiday. The S&P500 has lost about 19.8 percent from its Sept. 20 closing high, just shy of the20 percent threshold that commonly defines a bear market.
Trump denouncedopposition lawmakers for denying him funding for his southern border wall anddenounced them as hypocrites for criticizing his firing of FBI chief JamesComey. "It's a disgrace what's happening in our country. But other thanthat, I wish everybody a very Merry Christmas," the president said as hefielded reporters' questions after talking with members of the armed forces.With the stock market on track for its worst December since the GreatDepression, Trump berated the Federal Reserve for its stewardship of theeconomy, a regular recent complaint.
"They'reraising interest rates too fast because they think the economy is so good but Ithink that they will get it pretty soon, I really do," Trump said.
His comments cameafter Asian markets suffered a holiday rout, with Tokyo suffering its worstfinish since April 2017 after a brutal run on Wall Street that saw US stockssink for a fourth straight session.
No foreseeableend
Markets have beenroiled by ongoing uncertainty in the US, with Treasury Secretary StephenMnuchin berated for holding a call with the six biggest US banks and thenreporting on Twitter that the six CEOs have "ample liquidity"available. Investors were also unnerved by weekend news reports that Trump hadasked about the possibility of firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell,accounts that Mnuchin said Trump has denied.
Asked byreporters whether he had confidence in Mnuchin, Trump answered "yes Ido," calling the treasury chief a "very talented, very smartperson."
The stock marketmalaise comes with Trump refusing to sign a budget bill to keep the governmentfunded as he demands $5 billion for a US-Mexico border wall-a pillar of hiselection platform.
Trumpacknowledged the impasse has no foreseeable end date, telling reporters hecouldn't say when the government would fully reopen. "I can tell you it'snot going to be open until we have a wall, a fence, whatever they'd like tocall it," he said. Trump reaffirmed his claim on Twitter Monday that hehad approved a contract for the construction of 115 miles (185 kilometers) ofwall in Texas, although the White House has not offered any details on theproject.
He said he wouldvisit that stretch of the border "at the end of January for the start ofconstruction." Home alone The president said he aimed to have a"renovated or brand new" barrier stretching up to 550 miles acrossthe 2,000-mile border by Election Day 2020, without explaining how it was goingto be paid for.
Sections offencing have been repaired along the US-Mexico border but no new wall has beenbuilt, and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said over the weekend thepresident "must abandon the wall, plain and simple" to reopen thegovernment. Trump ended the Oval Office exchange by railing against theDemocrats and Comey, whom he sacked as FBI director in May 2017 -- a move helater said stemmed from frustration over the federal investigation intopossible ties between the Trump campaign Russian interference in the 2016 USvote. Trump had already set an unfestive holiday tone in a Christmas Evetweetstorm in which he expounded on the shutdown and his controversialwithdrawal of US troops from Syria, launching another attack on the FederalReserve. - AFP