A combative Karoline Leavitt took the White House podium Monday, holding up a handwritten note from President Donald Trump that she said outlines the key obstacle preventing the U.S. economy from reaching even greater heights.
U.S. stock markets surged Monday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly topping 44,000—a milestone not seen since the week following Trump’s election last November. Easing concerns over a potential trade war and milder-than-expected impacts on energy prices from Middle East conflicts have contributed to the strong performance of Trump’s second term.
Add it all up, and interest rates should be coming down,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declared Monday. Instead, she argued, “interest rates are still too high,” blaming the inaction on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s reluctance to move.
Leavitt held up a printed chart comparing global interest rates, highlighting how much lower rates are in other countries, underscoring her point that the U.S. is falling behind due to the Fed’s hesitation.
At the top is Switzerland, “who is only paying a quarter for interest rates.” Cambodia, Japan, Thailand, Botswana, Bulgaria, Cuba, Cabo Verde, Libya and many others “are all paying lower interest rates than the United States,” Leavitt asserted, “which has one of the hottest and strongest economies in the world.”
The press secretary then pointed to Trump’s handwriting on the document. “‘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,’” Leavitt read from Trump’s note to Powell.
Nationally, the U.S. is seeing historically low inflation, which measured just 2.35% in May—below the long-term average of 3.28%. Additionally, last month’s unemployment figures marked the third straight jobs report to exceed economists’ expectations.
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