Trump says Fed ‘has gone crazy’

U.S. President Donald Trump again criticized the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates, calling it a “mistake” hours after the worst U.S. stock market selloff since February.

“The Fed has gone crazy,” he told reporters on Wednesday as he arrived in Pennsylvania for a campaign rally. “So you can say that well that’s a lot of safety, actually, and it is a lot of safety, and it gives you a lot of margins, but I think the Fed has gone crazy.”

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement following the close of markets that the U.S. economy is “incredibly strong” despite the sell-off, which analysts attributed in part to trade tensions with China.

“It’s a correction that we’ve been waiting for, for a long time,” Trump said. He frequently celebrates publicly when the stock market reaches new highs, pointing to the gains as affirmation for his economic policies.

Trump was briefed on the market turmoil earlier in the day, a White House official said. He has repeatedly criticized the central bank for raising interest rates this year, decisions aimed at preventing the economy from overheating.

“The fundamentals and future of the U.S. economy remain incredibly strong,” Sanders said in a statement. “President Trump’s economic policies are the reasons for these historic successes and they have created a solid base for continued growth.”

During an event earlier Wednesday amid the sell-off, Trump and his top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, said they believed the U.S. economy was strong. “It is doing well,” Trump said.