Iran Press/America: In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Donald Trump said the Federal Reserve has been 'very, very destructive' to the US economy.
According to an Iran Pres report, Trump added: "They (the Federal Reserve) certainly didn't listen to me because they made a big mistake. They raised interest rates far too fast."
In his CNBC interview, president Trump also claimed that China has "lost 15 to 20 trillion dollars in value since the day I was elected."
Trump's statement has been criticised by many analysts and experts who have pointed out the statement is false and nor is it clear what Trump is actually referencing here. The entire size of the Chinese economy is estimated to be around $13 trillion, so it's impossible for it to lose more than it is worth. On top of that, China's economy has continued to expand during Trump's time in office.
China's GDP growth has remained above 6 percent since Trump was elected in November 2016. While Chinese economic growth has started to slow, that trend was already underway before Trump was elected.
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In the interview Trump also contradicted his own Treasury Department by calling China a currency manipulator weeks after the agency skipped slapping that label on China. "They devalue their currency. They have for years. It's put them at a tremendous competitive advantage," Trump said during his interview on CNBC.
Meanwhile, analysts and experts have pointed out that China's currency has fallen 9% against the US dollar over the past year, according to one economic research firm, but its recent depreciation didn't trigger the US government taking the rare step of formally labelling Beijing a currency manipulator last month.
Speaking to CNBC, Trump said the sharp decline in China's currency 'absolutely' needs to be addressed as the yuan has depreciated to help offset tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods amid an ongoing trade war.
Trump also complained that Chinese President Xi Jinping can issued directions to China's central bank and make up for the impact of the tariffs imposed by the US president on Chinese goods.
"We should be entitled to have a fair playing field, but even without a fair playing field -- because our Fed is very, very destructive to us -- even without a fair playing field, we're winning, because the tariffs are putting us at a tremendous competitive advantage," he said.
"Don't forget, the head of the Fed in China is President Xi. He's the president of China. He also is the head of the Fed. He can do whatever he wants," said Trump.
It is certainly not the first time that Donald Trump has got his facts wrong in a major interview with the media.
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