Trump Still Backs Warsh but Demands 1% Rates Hours After the Fed's First Hike in Years

Quartz (Cris Tolomia, updated 17 September 2026) reported that President Trump, hours after Wednesday's rate decision, said U.S. interest rates should be 1% or less and that he still has confidence in Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh.

This is a Truth Social post plus later press comments on 16 September 2026. It is not an executive order, and it is not a legal command the Fed has to obey.

The Federal Open Market Committee had just voted unanimously to raise the federal funds target range by a quarter point to 3.75% to 4.0%, the first hike since 2023 under Warsh. Trump wrote that the United States is "the Best Credit in the World" and demanded the cut "FAST."

Speaking later, Trump told reporters he is relying on Warsh but that Warsh has "a very tough board." Quartz, citing CNBC, said Trump told Warsh, "You might as well vote with the board. It's not going to matter." Trump called the committee hostile and political. Asked if Warsh had acted on his direction, he said he wanted Warsh to be independent.

White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News that Trump "absolutely" supports Fed independence while reserving a right to criticize "when things go awry," Quartz reported, citing CNBC. That White House line sits next to the 1% demand. The two messages do not match.

Related hike tape is already on the first Fed raise in three years and the pre-meeting Warsh hike setup.

Price credit and duration off the 3.75% to 4.0% target range, not off a 1% Truth Social demand, and keep another hike on the table until the next FOMC statement says otherwise.