US President Donald Trump has demanded that the Federal Reserve cut its key rate to 1% or lower, sharply criticizing the American central bank's decision to tighten monetary policy. He made the call in a post on his Truth Social network, according to infohub.kz.
The statement came immediately after the Fed unanimously raised its benchmark rate on September 16, 2026.
Trump called the regulator's decision "inadequate" and urged that interest rates for the United States be lowered as soon as possible. Trump is convinced that the US should have the lowest interest rate in the world. In his view, by maintaining tight conditions, the US is "carrying" other countries on its back and making them rich. As leverage, the president even threatened to halt trade with countries with which the US runs a trade deficit.
The regulator has entirely different priorities. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) moved to tighten policy because of elevated annual inflation, which stood at 3.4% in August. The Fed's inflation forecast for all of 2026 is 3.7%. The Fed's goal is to bring price growth back to its 2% target, so most committee members expect another rate hike before the end of the year (to 4%–4.25%), rather than a cut.
As foreign media report, the US Federal Reserve is legally independent of the White House, so its chairman, Kevin Warsh, makes decisions based solely on macroeconomic indicators (the labor market and inflation), not on the president's demands.
If the Fed complied with Trump's demand and lowered the rate to 1% with inflation currently at 3.4%, it could trigger uncontrolled price growth.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that on the eve of September 16 the Fed raised its 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 persistently high inflation and rising government bond yields.
Another hike is expected before the end of the year.