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source_url: https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/trump-calls-lower-interest-rates-135311610.html
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President [Donald Trump](https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/donald-trump/) again pressured the Federal Reserve to lower its benchmark for interest rates, insisting rates are "artificially high" the same day the Treasury Department announced the U.S. national debt [surpassed $40 trillion](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/08/19/us-national-debt-surpasses-40-trillion/91377595007/), though many forecasters are still predicting the Fed will hold its target range steady at its next meeting in September.
Though the president said Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, whom [he nominated](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2026/01/30/trump-picks-former-fed-governor-kevin-warsh-new-fed-chair/88428889007/) to the position earlier this year, is doing "a great job," he implied other members of the rate-setting committee may have political motives when casting their votes. Trump consistently criticized former Fed Chair Jerome Powell for the same reason after [nominating him](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2017/11/02/trump-nominates-jerome-powell-next-federal-reserve-chairman/823697001/) to the role in 2017. Powell remains on the committee as a governor. He and other committee members, including Warsh, have repeatedly affirmed their independence from politics.
"The problem is he has a board, and it's a political board," Trump told reporters Aug. 19 while speaking alongside crypto executives at the White House. "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."
More: [White House again threatens to fire the Fed's Lisa Cook over mortgages](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2026/08/07/trump-threatens-to-fire-lisa-cook-of-the-federal-reserve/91216929007/)
The Federal Open Market Committee as a whole has not voted to raise the federal funds rate [since July 2023](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/07/26/fed-interest-rate-hike-live-updates/70463418007/). It voted to lower the rate three times [late last year](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/12/10/federal-reserve-december-meeting-live-updates--live/87675046007/) and has held it steady so far in 2026. At its most recent meeting in July, [three committee members dissented](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2026/07/29/fed-meeting-live-july-interest-rates--live/91061021007/) from the decision, preferring to raise the target range by a quarter-point. The federal funds rate still stands at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%.
"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."
The Fed considers a wide array of economic data when making its interest rate decisions. The committee typically raises the federal funds rate to tame inflation and lowers it when it's concerned about slowing in the job market.
A higher federal funds rate often means consumers face higher interest rates on things like credit cards, personal loans and car loans, while savers benefit from higher returns on high-yield savings accounts and certificates of deposit. A lower federal funds rate generally produces the opposite effect. In either case, it does not directly affect mortgage rates. The 30-year fixed-rate for mortgages tends to track the trajectory of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note.