Strategist Mark Grant: Trump has a right to call out the Fed if it's not acting in the US best interest
- President Trump has a right to call out the Fed if he feels the central bank is not acting in the best interest of the U.S., strategist Mark Grant says.
- In an interview with CNBC last week, Trump expressed frustration with the Fed's recent move to raise interest rates.
- "The Federal Reserve bank does not represent the emerging markets or the European Union, it represents the United States of America," Grant says.
President Donald Trump has "a right" to call out the Federal Reserve if he feels the central bank is not acting in the best interest of the United States, strategist Mark Grant told CNBC on Monday.
"The Federal Reserve bank does not represent the emerging markets or the European Union. It represents the United States of America," said Grant, the chief strategist at B. Riley FBR.
"If [the government] feels like the Fed is not working within the policies of the United States government, they have a right to stand up and say something," Grant added in a "Squawk Box" interview. "You have the Fed moving in the opposite direction of the government."
Grant said to question the policies of the Fed does not interfere with its decisions.
In an exclusive interview with CNBC's Joe Kernen that aired Friday, Trump expressed frustration with the Fed's recent move to raise interest rates and said the central bank could disrupt the U.S. economic recovery.
Trump then criticized the Fed monetary policy again in a tweet Friday.
Fed officials, including Chairman Jerome Powell, have raised interest rates twice this year and have indicated two more are coming before the end of 2018.
Grant, who was previously managing director and chief strategist at Hilltop Securities, said he doesn't agree with the central bank's "return to normalcy." He said if the Fed continues to raise interest rates, it will slow down economic growth.
"I don't think the Fed should be raising interest rates at a time when Congress and the president under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is trying to grow the economy," Grant said.
—CNBC's Jeff Cox contributed to this report.