Fed Led by Trump-Picked Chair Raises Rate Despite Trump’s Calls to Lower Them

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh and President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on May 22, 2026. —Yuri Gripas—Abaca/Bloomberg/Getty Images Donald Trump lashed out at the Federal Reserve after it defied his persistent calls for lower interest rates and instead raised its key interest rate on Wednesday for the first time since 2023, in an attempt to quell elevated inflation.

“Interest Rates in the United States should be 1%, or less, because we are the Best Credit in the World—BY FAR,” Trump posted on Truth Social .

“LOWER THE INTEREST RATES FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND FAST!” The Fed’s newly minted chair, Kevin Warsh , whom Trump appointed in May to succeed Jerome Powell, said Wednesday that all 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee, including him, voted unanimously for the 0.25 percentage point hike.

The federal funds rate now ranges between 3.75 to 4%.

A rate hike counters Trump’s steady campaign last year against Powell, whom he appointed in 2018, to pressure him to significantly lower interest rates.

For months, the President attacked and insulted Powell, and the Trump Administration went as far as opening a criminal investigation over the Fed executive’s alleged mismanagement of the central bank’s $2.5-billion renovation project.

Powell’s chair term ended in May, though he remains on the Board of Governors.

Warsh’s appointment was expected to end Trump’s feuding with the Federal Reserve, but he defended the decision to buck Trump on borrowing costs.

“The decision we made today was a sober decision, serious decision, responsible decision, one that we have been preparing for and thinking about in my 110 or 120 days here,” Warsh said , adding: “The plain fact is that inflation is too high and has been for too long.” Fed members are also projecting another 0.25-point increase later in the year, which would stay unchanged through 2027.

While Trump has previously said that he would support Warsh’s independence , his message on Truth Social showed his disappointment over the decision to increase the interest rate, mirroring statements he made when Powell was Fed Chair.

He also alluded to threats he previously made of cutting off a big chunk of U.S. trade if interest rates weren’t reduced, despite the two being largely unrelated.

“Our Country is BOOMING with new Investment!” he wrote on Truth Social.

“If we stopped Trading with every country that we have a Deficit with, which is most of them, we would make, at least, 1.5 Trillion Dollars a year.

The word ‘Deficit’ is nothing more than a fancy word for LOSS.