New York (CNN Business) For the third week in a row, President Donald Trump is criticizing Jerome Powell, the man he picked to lead the Federal Reserve. 
 
 In an interview Tuesday with The Wall Street Journal , Trump said that Powell raises interest rates "every time we do something great." 
 
 The Fed chair "almost looks like he's happy raising interest rates," the president said. He also told the newspaper that it was "too early to tell, but maybe" he regretted nominating Powell to the position. 
 
 The criticism echoes comments Trump made last week in an interview with Fox Business in which he said that the Fed is his "biggest threat." 
 
 Michelle Smith, a spokeswoman for the Fed, declined to comment on Trump's remarks Tuesday. 
 
 Presidents have for decades refrained from commenting on the Fed, a stance adopted to avoid compromising its independence — and its credibility with financial markets. 
 
 In the run-up to the midterms, Trump has pitched voters on his stewardship of the economy. He threw Washington into a frenzy this week by promising to introduce a fresh round of tax cuts before the midterms , expanding on last year's landmark tax reform. 
 
 But the president has lately expressed frustration with the Fed's gradual interest rate increases, designed to slow down the economy and prevent inflation from taking off — standard macroeconomic steps that Trump insists are undercutting his expansionary fiscal moves. 
 
 Earlier this month, as investors dumped stocks amid concerns over rising interest rates, Trump said the central bank was "going loco" and "out of control." 
 
 Obama comparison 
 
 Trump complained to the Journal on Tuesday that former President Barack Obama — who came into office amid the worst recession in decades — didn't have to deal with the burden of rising interest rates. 
 
 "I'm just saying this: I'm very unhappy with the Fed because Obama had zero interest rates," Trump told the paper. 
 
 After the financial crisis erupted in 2008, the Fed kept rates at historically low levels to revive the ailing economy. It started slowly raising rates again in 2015 as the economy regained strength under Obama, and has hiked them six times since Trump took office. Three of those increases were under Powell, a sitting Fed governor widely respected on Wall Street whom Trump chose to succeed Obama's pick, Janet Yellen. 
 
 Before he picked Powell, however, Trump teased the possibility of renominating Yellen , crediting her with helping boost the stock market. 
 
 As with other personnel changes, the president made his Fed pick something of a reality show, asking Fox anchor Lou Dobbs for his recommendation in a televised interview. (Dobbs endorsed Yellen.) 
 
 Yellen says Fed criticism is unwise 
 
 Economists have generally given Powell high marks on his performance, arguing the Fed is acting wisely by gradually returning monetary policy to normal levels after the worst recession in 75 years. 
 
 The central bank is trying to cool down the red-hot economy after Washington's debt-fueled tax cuts and spending surge. The rate hikes are also designed to give it room to provide support for the economy whenever the next downturn arrives. That's especially important because the federal government's soaring budget deficit could make it harder to borrow to fight a recession. 
 
 Yellen defended his performance in remarks last week at a mortgage bankers conference in Washington and suggested Trump should back off. 
 
 "I really think it is not a desirable thing for a president to comment so explicitly on Fed policy," she said. "Obviously, presidents can speak out if they choose to and give their opinions about policy, there's no law against that, but I don't think it's wise and I do think the Fed has a strong reputation for acting in an independent and non-political way and I would not like to see that reputation damaged." 
 
 That view was repeated the same week by Trump's former top economic adviser Gary Cohn — who was also once considered a candidate to chair the Fed under Trump. 
 
 When asked on CNBC if he thought the president should be weighing in, Cohn replied: "I don't think he should be making comments on any federal agency." ||||| Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. 
 
 By Lucy Bayly 
 
 President Donald Trump renewed his attack on the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, accusing his own appointee, Chairman Jerome "Jay" Powell, of stunting the nation's economic growth. 
 
 "It almost looks like he's happy raising interest rates," said Trump in an interview with the Wall Street Journal published late Tuesday. 
 
 He also said he "maybe" regretted nominating Powell to the position, noting that "I have a hot economy going," and that "every time we do something great, he raises the interest rates." 
 
 The biggest risk to the economy was not tariffs, said Trump, nor an escalating trade war, nor punitive measures related to tensions with Saudi Arabia over the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but rather the fact that the Fed is raising interest rates too quickly. 
 
 Trump compared his presidency to that of Barack Obama, taking care to point out that Obama operated with "zero interest" rates from the Fed, which held rates artificially low for almost a decade in order to allow the economy to grow after the 2008 recession. 
 
 “How the hell do you compete with that?" Trump noted. 
 
 The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates by one-quarter point three times this year, with a fourth increase likely slated for December as monetary policymakers seek to temper credit demand. 
 
 Powell has made note of the Fed's precarious position as the economy heats up, saying in August that the Fed currently faces two main risks — either “moving too fast and needlessly shortening the expansion" or "moving too slowly and risking a destabilizing overheating." 
 
 Tuesday's attack marks the latest in the president's feud with the Fed. Last week, Trump lambasted the chairman, saying "I'm not happy with what he's doing because it's going too fast." 
 
 It used to be rare for a sitting president to comment on the Fed, which is supposed to remain immune to political pressure. Trump said last week that he had no intention of firing Powell, and there is no historical precedent for such action. 
 
 According to Section 10 of the Federal Reserve Act it is technically possible, since "each member shall hold office for a term of fourteen years from the expiration of the term of his predecessor, unless sooner removed for cause by the President." ||||| LISTEN TO ARTICLE 5:23 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email 
 
 President Donald Trump criticized the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate increases, breaking with more than two decades of White House tradition of avoiding comments on monetary policy out of respect for the independence of the U.S. central bank. 
 
 “I’m not thrilled” the Fed is raising borrowing costs and potentially slowing the economy, he said in an interview with CNBC broadcast Thursday. “I don’t like all of this work that we’re putting into the economy and then I see rates going up." 
 
 The dollar relinquished gains from earlier in the day and Treasury yields dropped following the president’s remarks. 
 
 "I am not happy about it. But at the same time I’m letting them do what they feel is best,” Trump said. 
 
 The Fed has raised interest rates five times since Trump took office in January 2017, with two of those coming this year under Chairman Jerome Powell, the president’s pick to replace Janet Yellen. In the interview, Trump called Powell a “very good man.” 
 
 Personal compliments aside, Trump aimed his complaints at a government agency that enjoys a degree of independence from politics because its funding isn’t subject to congressional appropriations. 
 
 Powell, nominated by Trump and confirmed by the Senate with broad bipartisan support, has a four-year term as chairman that ends in 2022. According to the Federal Reserve Act, a Fed chairman can only be removed from office before his or her term ends “for cause,” which isn’t defined. 
 
 Central Banks Want Freedom, Politicians Want Control: QuickTake 
 
 Most developed-world central banks are given a degree of independence from governments so monetary policy doesn’t succumb to the whims of politicians. In emerging markets such as Turkey, the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has felt no such restraint. 
 
 “This is such a risky thing for the Fed, and for the president, and for central bank independence,” said Peter Conti-Brown, a Fed historian at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Now, even if the Fed pauses its rate-hike campaign for valid economic reasons, it could look politicized. There will be many “who see that as the Fed yielding to a combative president,” Conti-Brown said. 
 
 Powell addressed Congress this week and told lawmakers that “for now -- the best way forward is to keep gradually raising the federal funds rate.” Fed officials have penciled in two more hikes this year. The probability investors assigned to a Fed rate hike in September was little changed near 90 percent after the president’s remarks, while the probability of a December hike was also holding near 65 percent, according to trading in federal funds futures. 
 
 Long Tradition 
 
 Fed spokeswoman Michelle Smith declined to comment. Powell last week told American Public Media’s “Marketplace” program that the Fed has “a long tradition here of conducting policy in a particular way, and that way is independent of all political concerns.” 
 
 White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters said in an emailed statement that the president “respects the independence of the Fed,” adding that his views on rates “are well known and his comments today are a reiteration of those long-held positions.” 
 
 Trump’s remarks come as the U.S. economy enjoys its second-longest economic expansion on record which has seen unemployment fall close to the lowest levels in 50 years. While the Fed has raised rates, they remain low on a historical basis. 
 
 The current target range for its policy benchmark is 1.75 percent and 2 percent. Subtracting inflation, the rate is slightly negative in real terms and still “accommodative” for growth and borrowing, as the Fed said in its June statement. 
 
 Indeed, overall financial conditions in the U.S. are largely unchanged since Trump took office in January 2017 despite the Fed’s gradual tightening campaign, and looser than they were on average in 2016, according to a Goldman Sachs index. 
 
 It wasn’t the first time in history the Fed has faced pressure from a U.S. president. But the past three administrations under Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have refrained from publicly commenting on policy decisions. 
 
 “The Fed’s independence from short-term political pressures is critical to enabling it to take the longer-run perspective that is essential for achieving its legislated dual mandate for jobs and price stability,” said Donald Kohn, a former Fed vice chairman who is now a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington. 
 
 Trump Hated Low Interest Rates. Then He Became President 
 
 It’s long been speculated that the taboo of commenting on U.S. monetary policy could change under Trump, who slammed the Fed during his election campaign and has demonstrated repeatedly his willingness to flout the conventions and sensibilities of establishment Washington. 
 
 While it’s been many years, the White House has also been known to exert other forms of pressure. In December 1965, Lyndon Johnson famously summoned Fed Chairman William McChesney Martin to his ranch in Stonewall, Texas, to confront him over Martin’s decision to lift rates. Martin held his ground. 
 
 The same couldn’t be said for Arthur Burns under Richard Nixon. Oval Office tapes later revealed that Nixon demanded Burns goose the economy with low rates ahead of the 1972 election. When Burns didn’t immediately cooperate, the White House planted a false story in the press that Burns was seeking a big pay raise, according to a book by Nixon speech writer William Safire. Eventually Burns relented, aiding Nixon but also helping to feed runaway inflation that dogged the U.S. economy for nearly a decade. 
 
 The last known example of U.S. presidential strong-arming came when George H. W. Bush was fighting for re-election. Bush’s White House pushed Alan Greenspan behind the scenes on rates and openly called on the Fed to lower its benchmark in June 1992. Greenspan did lower rates 13 times over 1991-92, but slowed the pace of cuts in the latter year, much to the White House’s annoyance. 
 
 — With assistance by Benjamin Purvis, Rich Miller, and Justin Sink
– Framing the state of the economy in personal terms, referring to "my numbers," President Trump blasted Fed chief Jerome Powell and the central bank itself in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. Trump called the Fed the "biggest risk" to the economy, due to the three times it's raised interest rates this year; it will likely do so a fourth time in December. Trump lamented Powell "was supposed to be a low-interest-rate guy. It's turned out that he's not," adding that Powell "almost looks like he's happy" when he raises the rates. Trump also seemed irritated that during former President Obama's tenure in the White House, interest rates hovered near zero. The Journal explains the Fed has been increasing the benchmark rate as a move to control inflation and keep financial bubbles at bay. CNN, meanwhile, notes the "historically low" interest rates under Obama were needed to jump-start a post-recession economy. Still, Trump told the Journal that while it's "too early to say," he "maybe" isn't so sure he should have nominated Powell. "I don't know," he said when asked in what scenario he'd remove his Fed head, a move for which NBC News notes there's no precedent. "I'm just saying this: I'm very unhappy with the Fed." Both former Fed chief Janet Yellen and ex-Trump economic adviser Gary Cohn say the president should ease up on the central bank, traditionally an independent entity, per CNN. More from Trump's Journal interview here, including his take on his former attorney, Michael Cohen. (Cohen just made a big political move.)