President Donald Trump on Monday voiced support for Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh while arguing that the United States should have the lowest interest rates in the world.
While President Trump supported his choice to lead the central bank, he questioned the motivations of other members of the Fed board for not wanting to ease monetary policy.
“Kevin is great, but he has a board of directors and I would say the members of the board are very political,” the president said during a session with reporters on Air Force One. “He wants to do the right thing. I know what he wants to do.”
The governor’s comments came two days before the bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced its latest interest rate decisions. Markets are pricing in that officials are likely to vote to keep rates unchanged this year, but the chance of a quarter-point hike remains about one in three, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
In recent days, multiple Fed officials have expressed concern about persistently high inflation. Dallas Fed President Laurie Logan, a voting member of this year’s FOMC, was the most vocal in calling for higher rates, saying the benchmark rate should rise “moderately.”
In his remarks, President Trump continued to accuse Fed officials of ulterior motives.
“We need the consent of some people who probably have bad intentions. Interest rates should be lowered. GDP (annualized) growth in this country could be 8%, 9%, 10%, 12%. That’s the way it should be,” he said.
“Interest rates should be the lowest in the world, just like they were 30 years ago,” he said.
The Fed’s benchmark overnight borrowing rate is currently targeted at a range of 3.5% to 3.75%, where it has been since the central bank cut it by three-quarters of a percentage point in the second half of 2025.
This rate is essentially the same as the Bank of England, but higher than the European Central Bank’s 2.25%, Japan’s 1% and China’s 3%.
