CoinVoice has recently learned that Trump administration economic adviser Kevin Hassett said in an interview that the Fed’s move to cut key interest rates by 50 basis points instead of 25 basis points is a reasonable move because data shows that the job market is weakening. He believed that based on the data at the time, a sharp rate cut was justified because economic growth had slowed significantly.

Hassett agreed with Trump that the Fed has taken “political actions” in recent years. “I think it’s reasonable to argue that the Fed has not been as independent as it should have been,” he said. He pointed to the Fed’s decision to raise interest rates in December 2016, before Trump took office, even though “the data didn’t support it” at the time, and later, he added, when “fiscal policy got out of control under a Democratic administration, the Fed didn’t act.”

But Hassett dismissed concerns that Trump would try to undermine the Fed's independence in a second administration. "I believe President Trump supports an independent Fed, but he also wants his voice to be heard, and he wants to have truly independent people there," he said. [Original link]