President Donald Trump stated that the Federal Reserve should lower interest rates rather than raise them in response to strong economic growth, during an interview broadcast Sunday morning on Meet the Press.
Speaking with moderator Kristen Welker, Trump addressed upcoming decisions facing newly appointed Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, whose first policy meeting in the role is scheduled for later this month. The interview followed a recent U.S. jobs report that exceeded economic forecasts, leading some analysts to suggest the central bank might consider a rate hike to keep the economy from overheating.
Trump expressed strong support for the new chair but explicitly countered the traditional economic view that strong employment data requires higher interest rates to keep prices stable.
“I think Kevin is fantastic, and I want him to do whatever he wants,” Trump said. “I don’t want to have a big influence on him. But we had a great report. We’re doing great, and it’s unfair that whenever you do great, they want to raise interest rates. It should be the opposite way.”
The President argued that the modern market dynamic has fundamentally changed from previous decades, noting that positive economic news now frequently causes stock market anxiety due to anticipated rate hikes. He stated that raising rates acts as a penalty on economic progress.
“What they do is when they raise interest rates, they try and kill success. I don’t want to kill success. We should actually lower interest rates,” Trump told Welker.
Addressing the threat of rising consumer prices, Trump challenged the standard monetary policy tool of using higher borrowing costs to cool demand. “Now, if inflation comes, and, you know, people live with inflation, but if inflation comes what happens is you stamp it out,” Trump said. “But success can kill inflation just like higher interest rates.”
Welker noted during the exchange that the latest employment figures “beat expectations.” Trump responded by characterizing the jobs data as roughly triple what forecasters had anticipated, pointing to increased factory construction and foreign investment entering the country. He argued that the central bank should capitalize on this momentum rather than curb it.
“I would like to see rates get lower because we could build this into the greatest machine that the world has ever seen, but you can’t do that when everybody immediately raises interest rates,” Trump said. “Growth is the greatest thing you can have, and growth does not cause inflation.”
READ: Trump On Meet The Press: Gas Prices Are Going To ‘Drop Like A Rock’
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