Better than anyone · Second term · № 49

Nobody knows more

Knows interest rates 'much better' than the Fed and its chairman

“I think I know interest rates much better than they do, and I think I know it certainly much better than the one who's primarily in charge of making that decision.”
Said
, Remarks to reporters in the Oval Office after his Davos video address
Subject
interest rates
Topic
Economy & prices
Era
Second term

What the record showed

He had previewed the claim at an August 2024 Mar-a-Lago news conference: 'I made a lot of money. I was very successful. And I think I have a better instinct than, in many cases, people that would be on the Federal Reserve or the chairman.' On April 29, 2025 in Macomb County, Michigan he said of Chair Jerome Powell, 'I know much more than he does about interest rates, believe me,' and on September 13, 2026 at Doonbeg, Ireland, 'I know more about formulas than anybody, and we're the best credit in the world.' As of September 15, 2026, with Trump's nominee Kevin Warsh as chair, inflation was running at 3.4 percent against the Fed's 2 percent target and markets priced a better-than-90-percent chance of a rate increase rather than a cut.

Sources

  1. Trump Says He Knows Interest Rates Better Than Fed Chief Powell Bloomberg via Yahoo News, Jan 23, 2025
  2. Trump at Davos: oil, Russia, debanking Fortune, Jan 24, 2025
  3. How Trump's wish for more Fed control could impact economy PBS News Hour, Aug 13, 2024
  4. Trump Says He Knows 'Much More' Than Fed Chair About Interest Rates in 100-Day Speech Newsweek, Apr 29, 2025
  5. Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Speaks to Reporters at the Irish Open in Doonbeg - September 13, 2026 Roll Call Factba.se, Sep 13, 2026
  6. Trump and the Federal Reserve are on a collision course over interest rates NBC News, Sep 15, 2026