President Donald Trump on Monday escalated his public campaign to pressure Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell into cutting U.S. interest rates, releasing a sharply worded, handwritten note via social media.
In the note—penned in Trump’s signature all-caps script with a Sharpie—Trump rebuked Powell for keeping U.S. rates “too high,” arguing that America’s central bank had fallen “behind the curve.” He attached a chart titled “World Central Bank Rates,” highlighting dozens of countries—from Switzerland and Japan to Botswana and Albania—whose benchmark rates, he noted, are already lower than those set by the Fed.
“You have cost the USA a fortune and continue to do so,” Trump wrote. “Hundreds of billions of dollars being lost!” he added, accusing Powell of ignoring “No inflation” signals from the broader economy. A red arrow drawn on the chart pointed to six nations with lower rates, accompanied by the words, “Should be here.”
The release of the note preceded the White House press briefing, where Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt read from what she described as “original correspondence” from Trump. Leavitt echoed the president’s criticism, declaring, “The American people want to borrow money cheaply, and they should be able to do that,” and faulted Powell for resisting rate cuts despite a “booming” U.S. economy.
Trump has repeatedly chastised Powell—at one point calling him “stupid”—and last week publicly mulled dropping him from the Fed entirely. Powell, a former Treasury official, has steadfastly maintained that the Fed’s rate decisions will not be swayed by political pressure.
In testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, Powell explained that the Fed has been cautious about cutting rates further amid uncertainty over the impact of Trump’s trade tariffs on inflation. “We really don’t know how much of that’s going to be passed through to consumers,” he said.
As the federal funds rate remains near multidecade highs, Trump’s latest salvo underscores his administration’s ongoing friction with the Fed—and its effort to use public pressure in hopes of a quicker move toward lower borrowing costs.
