Trump urges Fed to cut rates as new chair Warsh prepares

President Donald Trump said the Federal Reserve should lower interest rates, arguing that strong economic growth does not require higher borrowing costs to control inflation. The comments, made in an interview recorded Friday and broadcast Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press," come as new Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh prepares for his first policy meeting later this month.

Trump expressed support for Warsh, his nominee to lead the central bank, stating he wants the chair to do whatever he wants and that he does not want to have a big influence on him. However, the president directly challenged the economic rationale for raising interest rates following positive data. "Nowadays when you have good reports, the market goes down because they think they're going to raise interest rates," Trump said. "There's no reason to raise interest rates."

The interview followed a U.S. jobs report released Friday that showed the economy added 172,000 jobs in May, exceeding forecasts. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%. This data prompted a selloff in Treasury bonds and led traders to fully price in a quarter-point rate increase by the end of the year, as investors bet the Fed would need to...