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President Donald Trump discusses his decision-making for the next Federal Reserve chair, tariff policy and more on “Kudlow.”
president donald trump said the U.S. should have the “lowest interest rates in the world” and argued that rate cuts would significantly lower federal borrowing costs during an interview Tuesday with FOX Business.Kudlow.”
“This country should have the lowest interest rates in the world,” Trump told the host Larry Kudlow. “We keep the world going.”
Trump tied interest rates to the government’s interest expenses, saying changes of a few points could significantly alter federal finances.
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President Trump sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Larry Kudlow on “Kudlow” Tuesday, touting his economic achievements in his second term. (FOX Business / FOXBusiness)
“Each point is $600 billion,” Trump said. “All he has to do is if we drop two points, we no longer have a deficit,” he said.
Market milestone
Trump also pointed to recent market milestones as evidence of economic strength, telling Kudlow that he remembered predictions that the Dow Jones Industrial Average reaching 50,000 would be considered a “miracle” at the end of a presidential term.
“I remember when I first won, they said if he gets the Dow to 50,000 by the end of his fourth year, he’ll have done miracles,” Trump said. “And we’re at the end of the first year.”
Trump added: “We’ve had a very good run and we want to continue.”
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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before leaving the White House in Washington DC on Friday, en route to his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Trump credited falling energy prices for keeping costs down, telling Kudlow he recently saw gas prices as low as $1.85 in Iowa and saying prices in other parts of the country had “broken $2 a gallon.”
“And this is like a major tax cut,” Trump said.
In the interview, Trump rejected the idea that strong growth should automatically lead to tighter monetary policy, arguing that markets and policymakers react negatively to concerns about inflation.
“We’re old enough to remember when the stock market, when there was good news, the market went up and it was bad news, the market went down,” Trump said. “That’s the way it should be.”
Trump suggested the dynamic has changed, saying markets can fall on positive economic news because of inflation fears and expectations about rates.
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President Donald Trump says 2026 will be a “big” year for the country to “Kudlow.”
“They’ve got the chips,” Trump said, comparing the reaction to golfers who “can’t sink a three-foot putt” when they hear the word inflation. “Well, growth doesn’t mean inflation.”
“We have to go back to the old system when we have good news, the market should go up, and we have bad news, the market should go down,” Trump said, adding, “We’ll deal with inflation as it comes.”
Nomination Warsh
Trump praised Kevin Warsh, his candidate related to the Federal Reserve, in the interview’s discussion of monetary policy, saying Warsh would be influential.
“I think he’s somebody who’s going to be a real influencer,” Trump said. “I think you agree with what I’m saying.”
Trump argued that the US has historically maintained relatively low borrowing costs.
“Here we go again. Another 20, 25 years. We were always the lowest interest rate,” Trump said. “I used to pay like nothing.”
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President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell speak during a visit to the Federal Reserve Board building last summer. The building is currently undergoing renovation in Washington, DC (Kent Nishimura/Reuters/Reuters)
He then contrasted that with today, stating: “Now we’re like number 38 because we’ve had stupid people running our country.”
Switzerland rates
Trump illustrated his point by recounting a dispute with Switzerland, which he said benefited from low tariffs and trade imbalances with the United States.
“We had an incident with a very nice country, Switzerland,” Trump said. “They weren’t paying tariffs, they were sending stuff over here like nobody could believe. And we had a $42 billion deficit and we didn’t take anything.”
“I said, ‘You may be a small country, but we have a $42 billion deficit with you,'” he added.
Trump said he initially imposed a 30 percent tariff on Swiss imports before raising it to 39 percent after pushback from Swiss officials.
The United States later agreed to lower tariffs on certain Swiss products to 15 percent from 39 percent under a trade framework announced last year. Reuters informed
President Donald Trump sits down with FOX Business host Larry Kudlow to discuss ongoing Federal Reserve renovations, scrutiny of Fed Chair Jerome Powell and more about “Kudlow.”
In a wide-ranging exchange with Kudlow, Trump harshly criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, arguing that rates should be lower.
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“It’s so bad that, I mean, interest rates should have been cut. We should have gone down two points,” Trump said.
Kudlow closed the interview by thanking the president for his time.
