President Donald Trump escalated his public pressure campaign against Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Monday, June 30, 2025, by sending a handwritten note demanding immediate interest rate cuts. The message, written in black Sharpie marker on a chart comparing global central bank rates, was displayed during a White House press briefing by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
The note, scrawled across a printout listing interest rates from 44 nations, contained a pointed message to the Fed chair. Trump wrote that Powell was, as usual, too late and had cost the United States a fortune while continuing to do so. He demanded Powell lower rates by a significant amount, claiming hundreds of billions of dollars were being lost despite no inflation.
Trump annotated the chart to indicate where he believed U.S. rates should be positioned, pointing to countries like Switzerland, Cambodia, Japan, and Denmark with rates ranging from near zero to 1.75 percent. The chart showed the United States tied with nine other nations at the bottom with a 4.5 percent rate, while Switzerland topped the list at 0.25 percent.
During the briefing, Leavitt described the document as original correspondence from the president to Powell, emphasizing Trump’s business background and proven economic formula. She indicated that Trump knows what he is doing and that the primary remaining problem is high interest rates for American people who want to borrow money cheaply.
The handwritten note represents the latest escalation in Trump’s sustained criticism of Powell, whom he originally nominated as Fed chair in 2017 during his first term. Trump has repeatedly called Powell names including “Mr. Too Late,” “stupid,” and “numbskull” in recent weeks, expressing frustration over the Federal Reserve’s reluctance to cut rates more aggressively.
In a Fox News interview that aired on Sunday, June 29, 2025, Trump described Powell as a bad person and indicated he would get somebody into the Fed capable of lowering rates. He has also threatened to fire Powell, though legal experts and the Supreme Court have suggested a president likely cannot legally remove a Fed chair before their term expires.
The Federal Reserve has maintained its federal funds rate at 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for four consecutive meetings through June 2025. Powell has expressed caution about cutting rates too quickly, citing concerns about potential inflation impacts from Trump’s sweeping tariff policies.
Powell told a congressional committee last week that the Fed expects tariff inflation to show up more in the coming months, noting uncertainty about how much cost increases will be passed through to consumers. The Fed chair has maintained that the central bank will set monetary policy to support maximum employment and stable prices based on careful, objective, and non-political analysis.
Trump’s public pressure campaign has intensified as he pushes for rates to be lowered to one percent or better. On his Truth Social platform, he wrote that Powell and the entire Fed board should be ashamed of themselves for allowing the current situation to happen to the United States. He claimed the board has one of the easiest yet most prestigious jobs in America, but has failed and continues to fail.
The president has argued that if the Fed were doing its job properly, the country would save trillions of dollars in interest costs. He has pointed to European central banks that have implemented multiple rate cuts while the U.S. has made none during his current term.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has been mentioned as a potential replacement for Powell when his term expires in May 2026. Bessent has indicated he would accept the position if offered and has suggested the administration is considering various options for sidelining Powell before his term ends.
One possibility being discussed involves appointing someone to be considered the future Fed chair when another board member’s term expires in January 2026. This would effectively create a shadow chair position nearly a year before Powell’s official departure.
Critics of Trump’s approach have described his handwritten note as resembling a scene from the movie “Mean Girls,” comparing it to Regina George’s angry notes in the film’s Burn Book. Social media users mocked the Sharpie-scrawled message, with some calling it signs of broken brains and questioning how the country has adapted to such unconventional presidential communication.
The public display of the handwritten note during an official White House briefing underscores the administration’s commitment to maintaining pressure on the Federal Reserve for more aggressive monetary easing. Trump has even mused about appointing himself as Fed chair, claiming he would do a better job than the current leadership.
The standoff between Trump and Powell continues as the Fed weighs economic data against the potential inflationary impacts of the president’s trade policies. With Powell’s term extending into 2026, the conflict over monetary policy appears likely to persist throughout much of Trump’s current presidency.