Donald Trump touted the country’s economic progress in a speech on Tuesday, highlighting job growth and a robust manufacturing sector, while also blaming the Federal Reserve for stunting the nation’s stock market successes.
The Fed raised rates too quickly and was too slow to cut them, said Trump during remarks to the Economic Club of New York. He also pushed for negative rates, noting that other countries “openly cut interest rates so that many are now actually getting paid when they pay off their loan,” Trump said. “Give me some of that. Give me some of that money. I want some of that money. Our Federal Reserve doesn’t let us do it.”
Since the 2016 election, the S&P 500 is up by 45 percent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up by around 50 percent, and the Nasdaq is up by 60 percent, Trump said. But, while he praised those stock market gains, he noted that “If the Fed had worked with us, those numbers could have been higher by 25 percent.”
Trump is expected to tout the U.S.’s continued economic expansion as a product of his administration’s policies. On Tuesday morning, Trump tweeted: “Economy is booming. Seems set to have another record day.”
Economy is BOOMING. Seems set to have yet another record day!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2019 [1]
Trump’s remarks, however, come as the pace of U.S. economic growth has slowed to roughly 2% annually, which would be far from a record.
Stocks did rise Tuesday, however. The S&P 500-stock index was up nearly 0.25%, or 12 points, to 3099, around noon. The index has never closed above 3100.
Despite the President’s focus on the stock market, many Americans, particularly lower-income ones, do not have any money invested in stocks. Economists have long questioned the ties between the stock market and the performance of the real economy.
Trump then claimed that had Hillary Clinton won, the markets would have crashed. Trump appeared to expect applause for that…but CRICKETS.
WATCH:
Trump gets no applause at the nonpartisan Economic Club of New York for suggesting the market would have tanked if @HillaryClinton [2] won. This is the kind of line that usually gets him massive applause and cheers at rallies with his most devoted supporters. pic.twitter.com/5iZ0KSzz3G [3]
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) November 12, 2019 [4]
When Trump faced very little applause earlier in the speech, he claimed that only smart people clap:
After very few in attendance react positively to a point in his speech, Trump says "the smart people are clapping, only the smart people are clapping." pic.twitter.com/nrLMNTJJ9T [5]
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) November 12, 2019 [6]