Trump was quite unambiguous about his plans to weaken the US dollar. In fact, he already sent the dollar spiraling down a little when he told in his WSJ interview last Friday that the dollar had been "too strong". I don't know how that can be possibly misconstrued toward "a much stronger dollar". If Trump is actually going to "make America great again", he should first make American goods competitive in the world markets, but the only American good that was competitive as of late was the American dollar itself
It is not up to Trump though, is it The Federal Reserve is independent and reports to Congress not the President. Nothing is going to stop them from raising interest rates - if anyone questions them they will use the magic words "we see inflation building" and Congress will roll over and let them raise interest rates.
If American interest rates rise but rates in the rest of the world don't, then the dollar will strengthen.
Obviously, you are pretty much wrong on this
The chair of the Fed is chosen by the President of the US, so in practice the latter does have control over the Fed. Trump will evidently appoint his man to this post. Presently, this office is taken by Janet Yellen, and she was not appointed by Trump. Therefore, she may indeed choose to silently ignore his decisions (and many in Washington seem to be going to sabotage his orders anyway), but her term ends in a year, in February 2018. Further, the majority of seats in Congress (both houses of it) right now belongs to the Republicans and Trump is one of them. Ultimately, Trump as a genuine demagogue may appeal directly to the nation, and then Congress will have tough time explaining their objections to simple guys from Texas and Nebraska if its members choose to dispute his will (of making America great again or something to that tune)
Monetary policy isn't decided by the Chairman of the Fed alone. All the regional Feds have a vote and the Regional Fed leaders are appointed by the states. There is no way that Trump can prevent the rising of interest rates. Not if there is a build up of inflationary pressure.
