Trump Presses Fed to Lower Interest Rates Ahead of Meeting

President Donald Trump said that the United States should have the lowest interest rate in the world, days before the Federal Reserve decides whether to raise rates.

He told reporters at the Irish ‌Open golf tournament on Sunday that he did not know whether Fed ⁠policymakers would raise interest rates at their meeting this week.

“I know more about formulas than anybody, and with the best credit in the world, we make other countries rich,” Trump said. “We don’t want ​to have ‌deficits with nations. We want to have surpluses or at least break-evens.”

The Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting is on Sept. 15–16. At its last meeting at the end of July, it decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent, approved by a 9–3 vote.

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett was asked by Bloomberg on Friday if he anticipated interest rates rising. He said that inflation is decelerating.

“You know we have very high regard for [⁠Fed Chair] Chairman Warsh and respect the independence of the Fed, and so I’m not going to second-guess the move that they may or may not make,” Hassett said.

“Now, what the Fed decides to do, maybe they decide that they’re going to do something that put risks on this side or that side. It’s up to them, but frankly, I think that inflation is clearly decelerating, even with this slight uptick this month.”

Asked what Trump’s reaction would be if the Fed raised interest rates, he said the president “will have an opinion about it, I’m sure.”

“He believes that there’s plenty of room for interest rates to go down, and he voices that opinion while respecting the independence of the Fed,” Hassett said. “And so, I would guess that if the Fed makes a big move, that the president will have something to say about.”

Trump recently conveyed a similar sentiment when reacting to a strong August jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). He demanded a rate cut and threatened trade retaliation.

“Lower the rate, or I’ll stop trading with countries with which we have a ​deficit,” Trump ​wrote in all caps in a Sept. 4 post on ​Truth Social.

Price pressures remain elevated as the economy deals with surging energy prices.

The Labor Department released its Consumer Price Index on Sept. 11, showing prices increased last month, mainly because of higher gasoline prices.

In August, consumer prices rose 0.4 percent, after increasing 0.1 percent in July. Gasoline jumped 3.9 percent and accounted for more than a third of that monthly increase. 

Energy prices as a whole, gasoline, electricity, home gas, and fuel oil, rose 2.1 percent in August. Housing costs rose 0.3 percent. Food prices increased 0.1 percent. Food was up 2.7 percent over the year. Energy was up 16.3 percent over the year. 

On Monday, traders expected there was an 88.5 percent chance the Fed would raise rates by a quarter point at this week’s meeting, according to CME FedWatch.

Reuters contributed to this report.