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“Interest rates are still too high,” Leavitt declared, pointing to a landscape where even nations with frail economies manage to maintain lower rates. She continued:
“Switzerland is only paying a quarter for interest rates,” Leavitt pointed out, letting that sink in for a moment.
And then she rattled off a list that underlined the gap:
“Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cuba, Cabo Verde, Libya and many others are all paying lower interest rates than the United States, which has one of the hottest and strongest economies in the world.”
But it was the note itself that sent shockwaves through Washington.
Leavitt read aloud Trump’s handwritten indictment of Powell’s monetary strategy:
“Jerome, you are as usual ‘too late.’ You have cost the U.S. a fortune and continue to do so. You should lower the rate by a lot. Hundreds of billions of dollars are being lost, and there is no inflation.”
Despite declining inflation figures, Americans are still living under the cloud of price hikes from the Biden era. Prices might have stopped soaring, but they’re still painfully elevated compared to pre-Biden levels.
In May, inflation cooled to just 2.35%, well under the U.S. historical average of 3.28%. Meanwhile, unemployment data has outperformed predictions for three straight months. The stock market reflected the optimism, with the Dow surging past 44,000—a milestone unseen since Trump’s victory last November.
Still, the core of Trump’s criticism remains a potent one: that middle-class Americans and retirees trying to live off savings are caught in a bind, squeezed by high rates while elites and government spenders carry on with reckless borrowing.
Powell insists the Fed is moving cautiously to avoid reigniting inflation. Trump, though, sees nothing cautious—just costly delays. His handwritten jab made that abundantly clear:
“Hundreds of billions of dollars are being lost,” he wrote.
Every day rates stay high, it’s not just a spreadsheet exercise—it’s a hammer blow to people burdened with loans, small businesses looking to expand, and homeowners trying to refinance.
Trump’s ongoing feud with Powell is far more than political theatre. It’s a battle over the nation’s financial destiny. Americans trying to build their futures—buying homes, starting companies, or investing for retirement—are directly affected by these decisions.
Though a recent Supreme Court ruling protects Powell from being fired outright by Trump, it doesn’t shield him from public pressure. And on Monday, Trump dialed that pressure up to full blast with his pointed message.
Polling suggests Trump’s economic pitch resonates with voters. Surveys indicate he leads Democrats by six points on handling inflation and holds an eight-point advantage on overall economic confidence.
Many conservatives argue that the Fed’s policies favor entrenched interests over everyday Americans. Critics warn that endless money-printing may give a short-term boost but risks economic catastrophe in the long run. And as history has shown, when the crash comes, it’s rarely the elites left holding the bag.
Trump’s latest note hammers home his vision for an economy driven by growth, not stagnation under tight monetary policy. Markets are responding to Trump’s momentum, buoyed by easing trade tensions and relative calm in energy markets despite ongoing Middle East challenges.
But the question hangs over Washington like a storm cloud: how much stronger could the economy be if Powell slashed rates?
As Trump presses for aggressive cuts, the Fed’s refusal to budge could become a flashpoint in the coming months. For Trump, the mission is clear: unleash economic expansion and stop sacrificing prosperity at the altar of cautious central banking.
After all, the American people didn’t elect Trump to keep the economy idling—they elected him to put it in overdrive. And if Jerome Powell thought he could escape that reality, Karoline Leavitt just made sure he’s thinking again.
