American leader Donald Trump demanded that the Federal Reserve's (Fed) key rate be lowered to 1% or below, sharply criticizing the US central bank's decision to tighten monetary policy. He wrote this on his Truth Social network. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
This statement followed immediately after the Fed unanimously raised the base rate on September 16, 2026.
Trump called the regulator's decision "inadequate" and urged that interest rates for the US be lowered as soon as possible. Trump is convinced that the US should have the world's lowest interest rate. In his view, by providing tight conditions, the US "carries" other states and makes them rich. As pressure, the president even threatened to stop trade with countries with which the US has a trade deficit.
The regulator has completely different priorities. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) moved to tighten policy due to elevated annual inflation, which stood at 3.4% in August. The Fed's inflation forecast for the whole of 2026 is 3.7%. The Fed's goal is to return price growth to the target of 2%, so most committee members predict another rate hike before the end of the year (to 4%–4.25%), rather than a cut.
As foreign media write, the US Fed has legislative independence from the White House, so its chairman Warsh makes decisions based solely on macroeconomic markers (the labor market and inflation), not on the president's demands.
If the Fed had fulfilled Trump's demand and lowered the rate to 1% with current inflation at 3.4%, this could have caused uncontrolled price growth.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that on the eve of September 16, the Fed raised the key rate for the first time in three years by 25 basis points to a range of 3.75–4%. The regulator took this step amid persistent high inflation and rising government bond yields.
Another hike is expected before the end of the year.