Wall Street’s “Bond King” Bill Gross told FOX Business’ Liz Claman President Trump isn’t to blame for the Federal Reserve’s hawkish stance on its monetary policy.

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“I don’t think [the Fed] did it because Trump was complaining so much,” Gross said on Monday. “Politicians don’t like higher interest rates, but I think, at this point, it was time to stop and take a look around and I think they are going to do that for the next six or 12 months.”

Trump, a harsh critic of the central bank, lashed out at Fed Chair Jermome Powell for having incrementally raised interest rates as the U.S. economy improved, but the global economy slowed, a move that caused volatility in the markets.

“We have a gentleman that loves quantitative tightening in the Fed. We have a gentleman that likes a very strong dollar in the Fed. So with all of those things — we want a strong dollar but let's be reasonable — with all of that we're doing great. Can you imagine if we left interest rates where they were? If we didn't do quantitative tightening? I want a dollar that's great for our country, but not a dollar that's prohibitive for us to be doing business with other countries,” Trump said on Saturday during a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

In a First on FOX Business interview since announcing his retirement, Gross said the Fed has enough ammunition to alleviate negative effects if the U.S. economy started to show recessionary signs.

“I think central banks have the ability to manage markets from this point, but certainly not to the extent that they did back in the Volcker days,” he said on “Countdown to the Closing Bell.”

Paul Volcker was Chairman of the central bank from 1979 to 1987, serving under former presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. During his tenure, the bank prime rate saw a rate jump to 21.5 percent and prime mortgages were at 18 percent.

Gross, 74, has been a pioneer in fixed income investing for more than 40 years. In 1971, he co-founded Pacific Investment Management (PIMCO) where he served as managing director and its chief investment officer.

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“I just thought it was time to relax a little bit,” he said about his retirement. “I’d always gotten up at 1:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m. in the middle of the night to check Germany or Asia and it was time to get up at 6:30 a.m. as oppose to frequently in the middle of night and maybe to play a little golf at the same time.”

Gross joined Janus Henderson in 2014, known as Janus Capital at the time, to manage the Global Unconstrained Bond Fund and Total Return strategies. He retires after a career of more than 40 years in bonds.