Trump bemoans Fed interest rate policy, says U.S. should be paying much less

President Donald Trump on Wednesday expressed frustration that the Federal Reserve isn't cutting interest rates, insisting that solid economic data shouldn't stop the central bank from adopting an easier policy stance.

As he has done in the past, Trump accused Fed officials of having political motives, though he excluded Chairman Kevin Warsh, whom the president nominated to the top position earlier this year.

Trump said Warsh is doing a "great job" in a position he began in May, succeeding Jerome Powell whom the president regularly badgered for not lowering rates faster. Powell remained on the board as a governor.

"The problem is he has a board, and it's a political board," Trump told reporters. "People put in by Obama, Biden, and me, and there are quite a few members still left, as you understand, and so they vote to raise interest rates. I don't know if they're doing it because they think they're doing a good thing or because they like the politics of it."

The Fed actually hasn't voted to raise its benchmark interest rate in more than three years. In 2025, the Federal Open Market Committee cut three times during the latter part of the year, following up on three reductions the prior year.

However, the pace of reductions hasn't been enough to satisfy Trump. The president has argued that the cuts are needed to keep the economy growing and to reduce the financing burden of the nation's nearly $40 trillion debt.

"My point is, years ago, 25 years ago, when the country announced good numbers, interest rates went down because we had a stronger country," Trump said. "Now, when we announce good numbers, the better they are, the worse it is for interest rates."

Trump's comments came the same day the FOMC released minutes from its July meeting. The summary showed that "many" officials expected higher rates to be necessary unless inflation shows more progress. Since that meeting, inflation data has been generally positive, though the annual rate remains well above the Fed's 2% target.

The U.S. economy grew at just a 1.5% annualized rate in the second quarter, below expectations and the 2.1% rate in the first three months of the year.

Trump also complained about where the U.S. stands compared to some of its global competitors. Specifically, he cited Switzerland, which has its benchmark rate anchored around zero as the nation battles the opposite problem that U.S. has faced — very low inflation rates and an unusually strong safe-haven currency.

"I see countries like Switzerland where they're the number one lowest interest rates, a half a percent, and we pay three and a half percent," he said. "I have the absolute right to cut off all business with a country like Switzerland."

At the same time, Trump said he doesn't think the U.S. has a bond market problem, despite what he considers unfairly high rates.

Earlier in the day, the Treasury Department announced it was stepping up its bond buyback program, a move that came after a surge in longer-maturity debt. The program will specifically target duration of at least 10 years.