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Fortune

Eleanor Pringle

President Trump may want a lower base rate on behalf of consumers, but it sure is convenient for national debt too

Donald Trump US Federal Reserve Fortune Joao Gomes Jerome Powell Jerome Too Late Powell National Debt Interest Rates Environment

Photo of Donald Trump (Credit: Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg - Getty Images)

EXCLUSIVE: Donald Trump has escalated attacks on Jerome Powell, blaming high rates for freezing the housing market and urging the Fed to deliver cuts. While Trump frames the issue as consumer pain, Wharton’s Joao Gomes told Fortune that cheaper borrowing would also ease interest payments on the government’s $37 trillion debt burden—likely a central motivation.

Trump’s argument for lowering the base interest rate has been clear. Consumers, he says, are suffering financially because Jerome Powell and the Fed refuse to make borrowing cheaper.

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