Trump Threatens the Fed to ‘LOWER THE RATE’ or ‘I’LL STOP TRADING’

President Donald Trump speaks during a Medal of Honor ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Thursday, June 18, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

President Donald Trump threatening Friday to stop trading with certain countries if the Federal Reserve does not vote to lower interest rates.

Trump’s posted to Truth Social, first boasting of the strong August job numbers released in the morning, before urging his newly installed Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh to lower interest rates.

“Great jobs number just announced, breaking all estimates (except mine!) by double and triple – And you haven’t seen anything yet! EMPLOYERS ADDED 162,000 JOB IN AUGUST. Lower the interest rates because the U.S.A. is a much stronger credit than it was just a short time ago!” Trump posted on Truth Social, adding:

A STRONG COUNTRY MEANS A LOWER INTEREST RATE – IT’S A BETTER CREDIT…Very simple! We should have the LOWEST RATE of any country in the World, like “the old days.” Without the United States agreeing to allow them their big surpluses, and we could stop that immediately, they would no longer be considered financially ELITE! LOWER THE RATE OR I’LL STOP TRADING WITH COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE HAVE A DEFICIT, which the U.S. Supreme Court, in its ridiculous and very costly Tariff decision, strongly acknowledged “the President” has an absolute right to do. IT’S BETTER THAN TARIFFS! The Fed Board, with its great new leader, must get smart – BE PATRIOTS for a change. High interest rates put the U.S.A. at a very unfair disadvantage, and I won’t allow that to happen! President DONALD J. TRUMP

High interest rates continue to balloon the U.S. national debt, which surpassed $40 trillion in August, requiring a monthly $96 billion interest payment.

Trump has long centered his economic policies and political campaigns around the idea that trade deficits with other countries are a bad thing, a notion most economists disagree with.

The Federal Reserve of Dallas, for example, published an article last year explaining why trade deficits – buying more from a foreign country than you sell to it – are not always a bad thing.

“Trade deficits are not inherently bad. They reflect foreign capital inflows and can support domestic investment or fiscal expansion. In a financially open economy, they enable greater flexibility to absorb domestic and global shocks without interest rate increases,” concluded the Fed article.

Many of the world’s wealthiest countries and largest economies run trade deficits, given their strong local currencies and high domestic consumption rates. The New York Times reported this week that the U.S. trade deficit increased in recent months, largely driven by imports related to data center growth, which Trump adamantly supports despite criticism within the GOP.

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