President Donald Trump on Monday renewed his attacks on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell for refusing to cut interest rates ― and he did it with one of his go-to moves: a Sharpie-scrawled message, complete with his signature across the bottom.
Trump printed out a list of central bank rates from 44 nations around the world. Switzerland topped the list at 0.25%, while 10 nations, including the United States, shared the bottom spot with 4.5%.
“Should be here,” Trump wrote, with an arrow near the top of the list.
He also had a personal message for the Fed chair in his trademark block letters.
“Jerome ― You are, as usual, “too late.” You have cost the USA a fortune ― and continue to do so ― you should lower the rate ― by a lot!” Trump wrote. “Hundreds of billions of dollars being lost! No inflation!”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt showed off the note during a Monday briefing.
In a Truth Social post with an image of the note, Trump added that Powell and the rest of the board “should be ashamed of themselves” and called for a 1% interest rate.
Trump has threatened to fire Powell, which is not a power the president has. He is also reportedly considering naming Powell’s replacement this summer, nearly a year ahead of time, effectively creating a “shadow chair.”
But the president’s critics couldn’t get over the Sharpie-scrawled note: