In a presidency that has seen almost every institution from the FBI to the Supreme Court consumed by division and controversy, the Federal Reserve is a shining exception. President Donald Trump’s nominees are widely seen as competent, careful and apolitical.
Mr. Trump’s lengthy riff on interest rates Thursday risks tainting that. In an interview with CNBC he declared himself unhappy that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell keeps raising rates. If not an actual violation of Fed independence– he was complaining, not instructing—it was...