President Donald Trump on Friday doubled down on his threat to cut off trade with countries that have surpluses with the U.S. unless the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates.
“What I’m saying, very simply, is that we should be paying the lowest interest rate in the world,” Trump said in the Oval Office Friday afternoon.
He had been asked about his Truth Social post earlier in the day declaring, “LOWER THE RATE OR I’LL STOP TRADING WITH COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE HAVE A DEFICIT.”
Trump issued that sweeping ultimatum after urging the Fed and its chairman, Kevin Warsh, to “get smart” and cut rates following a much-stronger-than-expected monthly jobs report.
Read Trump’s full post:
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! A STRONG COUNTRY MEANS A LOWER INTEREST RATE – IT’S A BETTER CREDITโฆVery 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
The Fed declined to comment on Trump’s post.
Taken at face value, the threat to end trade with deficit-harboring countries is extreme: The U.S. has large deficits with dozens of countries, including its top trading partners.
Trump has long sought lower interest rates and frequently complains about U.S. deficits with other countries. But many economists say trade deficits themselves are not necessarily good or bad. In fact, deficits can occur when a country has more purchasing power to buy more goods.
What’s more, the countries that have trade surpluses with the U.S. will often use the dollars they receive to buy U.S. Treasurys, putting that money back into domestic circulation. The U.S. has reported trade deficits in the tens of billions of dollars each month for decades.
The White House did not respond to CNBC’s request for additional information on the post.
The message nevertheless shows Trump resuming his pressure campaign against the Fed, which had eased since the appointment of Warsh, his handpicked successor to Jerome Powell.
The post also comes two months before the midterm elections, where Americans’ unhappiness with persistent high inflation has been a dominant theme.
A week earlier, Warsh suggested in a speech that rate hikes could soon be on the table. The Fed chair said he isย committed to bringing the inflation rate backย down to the central bank’s 2% target, “Short-term interest rates are the predominant tool to achieve the dual mandate.”
On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance called for lower rates, arguing it would be the “proper and responsible” response to recent U.S. inflation data.
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, asked about interest rates on CNBC on Friday morning, said, “the Fed will do what it wants to do. We respect their independence, but I think the argument for holding steady would be pretty strong.”
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