President Donald Trump pushes the Fed to lower interest rates
President Donald Trump sent a note to the chairman, who asked him to lower interest rates.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has been attacking in a months-long campaign to pressure Federal Reserve Speaker Jerome Powell to lower interest rates.
So, on June 30th, he pursued a new tactic. He published a handwritten note that he sent to Powell.
“You’re, as usual, ‘too late,'” Trump wrote to Powell in a note shared on the president’s social media app Truth. “You’ve sacrificed a lot of money to the US and you’re continuing to do that. You need to cut your interest rates significantly! You’ll lose hundreds of billions of dollars! There’s no inflation.”
With his signature, Trump wrote a note with his signature, ranging from the lowest in Switzerland, which is .25% to nine other countries with a rate of 4.5% with the US, along with a list of central bank fees set by countries around the world.
“You should be here,” Trump wrote, pointing to two arrows, pointing to the interest rates landing between Japan’s .5% and the 1.75% rates in Denmark, Seychelles and Thailand.
White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt published an oversized version of the letter during a briefing with reporters Monday. “I remind the whole world that this is the president who was the first businessman and he knows what he’s doing,” Leavitt said.
“Americans want to borrow money cheaply. They should be able to do that, but unfortunately we still have too high interest rates,” she said.
The Federal Reserve on June 18th stabilized interest rates in the range of 4.25% to 4.5% in its fourth consecutive meeting, despite Trump’s public lobbying and insults directed at Powell.
The White House claims that inflation rates of just 2.4% in May guarantee a drop in interest rates. But Powell cites his forecast for an increase inflation from massive tariffs on Trump’s imports.
Powell told members of the House Financial Services Committee last week that the Fed plans to assess the impact of Trump’s tariffs on inflation before lowering interest rates. He said “this year’s tariffs are likely to boost prices and weigh economic activity,” and it is not clear whether the effect would reflect a “one-time change in price levels” or “more permanent.”
Powell agreed that inflation has been eased in recent months, but cited economic forecasters’ forecasts for a “meaning increase in inflation” from Trump’s tariffs.
Despite his criticism, Trump said in April that he had “no intention” to fire Powell, whom he had appointed in his first term to serve a 10-year term on the Fed’s board, which will end in 2028. The president cannot legally fire a Fed chairman under current law.
Powell’s term as Fed Chairman will end in May 2026. And Trump said last week he had already started a search to replace Powell and had “three or four people” he’s considering. Bloomberg News reported that the name of Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent is circulating as one option.
Trump is seeking a Supreme Court decision that gives him the power to fire other independent committee members, but says his administration has not specifically sought the Fed’s powers. In a May 22 ruling, the majority of Supreme Court justice signaled that they believe Trump will not be allowed to fire Powell, claiming that the Federal Reserve is a “uniquely structured, semi-private organization” that is different from other independent agencies. The policy was included in the Supreme Court opinion that allowed Trump to fire two Federal Labor Commission members.
Asked by a reporter why Trump didn’t fire Powell, Lewitt said, “That’s a good question and you can ask the president.”
Contribution: Paul Davidson of USA Today
Reach Joey Garrison with X @joeygarrison.
