President Trump on Tuesday painted a rosy picture of the booming US economy, but slammed the Federal Reserve in a rousing speech to the Economic Club of New York.
“Today, I am proud to stand before you as president of the United States to report that we have delivered on our promises and exceeded our expectations by a very wide margin. We have ended the war on American workers, we have stopped the assault on American industry, and we have launched an economic boom the likes of which we have never seen before,” the president said at a luncheon at the New York Hilton Midtown.
Trump said his administration had worked to bolster the economy despite what he said were too many interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
“I did this despite a near-record number of rate increases and quantitative tightening by the Federal Reserve since I won the election, eight increases in total, which were in my opinion far too fast an increase and far too slow a decrease,” he said.
“Because, remember, we are actively competing with nations who openly cut interest rates so that now many are actually getting paid when they pay off their loan, known as negative interest. Whoever heard of such a thing? Give me some of that,” he said to laughter.
And he alluded to his America First trade policies as a way to ensure “American dominance.”
“I never believed for one moment that our magnificent nation was destined for a diminished future. I knew that our destiny was in our own hands — that we could choose to reject a future of America, and look at a future of American decline, [but] to build a future of American dominance,” he said.
“Before I took office, the Congressional Budget Office projected that fewer than 2 million jobs would be created by this time in 2019. Instead, my administration has created nearly 7 million new jobs. We beat predictions more than three times over,” Trump declared.
And he contrasted his tough-love approach to trade with the policies of his predecessors.
Trump spoke as Wall Street bigs and other invitees dined on salad, roast chicken with red wine sauce and New York cheesecake.
Trump’s address at noon for members of the club — which has hosted past presidents including Woodrow Wilson and John F. Kennedy, as well as foreign leaders such as former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang — was closely watched by investors anxious for any positive news about his administration’s long-running trade war with China.