President Trump touts mighty 'King Dollar' as strongest ever, but it's not
As President Donald Trump battles with the Federal Reserve, he has alternatingly praised and punched at the strength of the U.S dollar. On Wednesday, he tweeted and later in talking to reporters, boasted about the dollar being the strongest it has ever been.
While the dollar measure is indeed the highest it’s been this year, it is not quite the highest in U.S. history.
Not by a long shot.
Amidst an ongoing war of words with Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell, who Trump blames for the dollar’s growing strength, the numbers show he may be giving the Fed too much recognition in regards to the greenback’s worth.
Currently, the U.S. dollar index stands at 98.19, and as impressive as that may seem in the context of 2019, it’s hardly the highest in U.S. history.
In fact, it’s actually a whopping 40 percent lower than it was back in February 1985, when the dollar strength was at a record high of 164.72, according to a Markets Insider report.
And while the dollar hit its highest levels of the year on Tuesday, other metrics show that the dollar strength isn’t even close to past year-to-date highs, let alone the highest in U.S. history.
Trump has been pushing for lower interest rates and a weaker dollar in spite of the dollar’s high-point on Tuesday, in an effort to improve trading between countries with high inflation and weak currencies.
"Our dollar is so strong that it is sadly hurting other parts of the world," he tweeted on Monday, suggesting the country's currency is a threat to the nation’s trading agenda.
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