Trump: We should have interest rates lower than any other country

President Donald Trump said Thursday that the U.S. should have the lowest interest rates in the world because of its strength. He also once again called the chairman of the Federal Reserve a “moron.” He said he was “nice” to other countries because he could force other countries to pay billions more in tariffs.

Trump criticized Wednesday's decision by the central bank to pause interest rate cuts in a long post on his Truth Social social media site. Even though the decision was widely expected and made by 10 of the 12 Fed committee members, the president focused his criticism on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who he said refused to cut rates without any reason to do so.

It harms our country and its national security. We should have much lower interest rates now that even this moron admits that inflation is no longer a problem or threat. “It costs America hundreds of billions of dollars a year in completely unnecessary and unwarranted INTEREST COSTS,” Trump wrote.

Contrary to his words, Powell did not say on Wednesday that inflation is not a problem, but that it remains at an elevated level – although he expressed the belief that its rate may decrease around the middle of the year.

Trump added that The US should have low rates because of tariffs and its power, while claiming that other countries are “ATMs dispensing low rates… just because the US lets them.”” According to the US president, the high tariffs he imposed on goods from the rest of the world could be higher.

“In other words, I have been very kind, polite and gentle to countries around the world. With the stroke of a pen, BILLIONS of dollars more would flow into the USand these countries would have to go back to making money in the traditional way, not on the backs of America. “I hope that all will appreciate, though many will not, what our great country has done for them,” the president wrote. But he said the tariffs made America “far stronger and more powerful than any other country” and because of that strength it should have the lowest interest rates in the world.

The Fed's main decision-making institution, the Federal Open Market Operations Committee (FOMC), decided on Wednesday to leave the benchmark interest rate at its current level, 3.5-3.75 percent, breaking a series of three consecutive cuts. Powell attributed this decision to a desire to remain cautious in the face of favorable economic conditions, a still high degree of uncertainty about the future prospects, and the level of inflation still remaining above the Fed's 2 percent target. Referring to tariffs, Powell once again assessed that most FOMC members believed they were related to a one-time price increase, not long-term inflation.

From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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