Fed Officials Didn’t Discuss Trump’s Powell Attacks in December 2018 Meeting

The Federal Reserve was facing criticism from Donald Trump for its interest-rate increases in 2018, but officials didn’t discuss the president’s verbal attacks as they moved forward with their fourth rate hike of the year in December, transcripts released Friday show.

Some Fed officials at that December meeting expressed reservations about continuing to raise rates as the global economic mood seemed to be darkening while U.S. inflation remained muted. But the central bank proceeded with a quarter-percentage-point rate increase, as most officials expressed concerns about an overheating economy and the potential for higher inflation.