Trump threatens to halt trade with deficit countries unless Fed cuts rates

financeSep 4, 2026463,372

After touting Friday’s blowout jobs report, President Trump said he will stop trading with countries the United States runs trade deficits with unless the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates, framing the demand as leverage to shrink the deficit. Analysts point to a recent surge in the US goods deficit, which rose 24.4 percent to $88.6 billion in July, a jump officials linked to strong US demand and AI-related investment that boosted imports. Trump tied the policy threat to Fed action, saying lower rates and a weaker dollar would reduce the deficit; he warned he would impose trade measures that slash imports if the Fed does not move. News outlets including the New York Times ran headlines characterizing the comments as a direct threat to halt some trade unless the Fed cuts rates. Commenters and analysts in online posts said the proposal misunderstands trade deficits, arguing that cutting off trade would not simply erase bilateral deficits and could disrupt supply chains and consumer goods flows. The statement raises the prospect of unilateral US trade restrictions targeted at countries with bilateral deficits and sets up a new flashpoint between White House trade rhetoric and Federal Reserve independence.

MeidasTouch

@meidastouch.com

TRUMP THREATENS THE FED: Trump just told the Fed in a post that he will stop trading with countries where the U.S. runs a trade deficit unless it lowers interest rates. Meanwhile, there is now a greater likelihood of a Fed rate hike due to inflation fueled by Trump’s tariffs and the Iran war.

12416h ago

jamisong.bsky.social83

So, “I’m gonna punish Americans, unless they give me what I want, which will also punish Americans.”

Maybelle59

Those jobs numbers are fabricated and for market manipulation. They’ll adjust them later, after they’ve taken more money from our future

goodpseudonymsgone.bsky.social35

So extorting the fed chair he nominated ? Cuckoo stuff, people. Cuckoo stuff.

heathermcg.bsky.social27

Didn’t the Supreme Court rule he can’t unilaterally impose tariffs? That hasn’t seemed to slow him down.

Cathy A.22

He forgot to mention that wages are stagnant. People still can’t afford groceries, shelter or healthcare.

SseGreek16

But the jobs report was better than expected for August! Until someone who has the real numbers adjusts them as they have done Every month.

Quoting this

Jesse Hawken17

I feel like if Obama had threatened the Fed he would have been taken right over to Dealey Plaza in a convertible

Mark Thompson9

Is a President of the United States mob threatening his own Federal Reserve a good thing?

Dom Ervolina9

Lowering rates or ending international trade would both lead to hyperinflationary circumstances Raising rates is literally the only hope we have to get prices back under control

Anu8

Failed casino logic meets world trade. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Pure economic arson.

Brenny7

And congress goes on vacation… again. How much money are these Congress members making now for how many hours of actual work.

William Peter MacMason5

he's trying to set domestic fiscal policy via screaming and holding a pistol to his own head

Oeishik 🐸4

This is what coercion looks like.

Andrew Watt3

Where to even start with this? 👇 It's not the individual delirium that shocks but the collective failure of US American institutions to rein him in.

Middlerage3

He’s flailing. Enjoy your demise GOP.

William Hamilton2

We realize that it's just byplay right? The goal is to disrupt and discredit the Fed institution ahead of the midterms. If the Fed lowers rates, he's succeeded in degrading the institution. If they raise rates, Fox News will excoriate them as anti-American by increasing costs to businesses.

Scott Lemieux

@lemieuxlgm.bsky.social

Trump thinks that if you pay somebody $10 for a burrito than you have lost the $10, like it has been stolen from you. He's not pretending; this is literally the basis of his trade policy

9592h ago

HotCock42036

This does explain his whole lifetime of stiffing contractors

Jim Snowden14

Donald, even Homer Simpson grasps this:

Darrell Mast13

Wait until he hears about the trade deficit between Americans and gas stations.

Matthijs10

I've been saying! It's because the only way he can imagine anyone gaining things is by swindling others (since that's all he does) bsky.app/profile/mcca...

Ken MacLennan7

he really does believe paying for things is a sucker's game

grant7

He thinks these come from Mexico? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Tam...

Quoting this

Grunkle Baby Billy32

Aw, a peanut? I wanted $20

Ea-nāṣir4

Someone needs to show Trump a MONIAC machine. Look sir, it's all circular and interconnected.

Dan Seitz2

This is a much more widely spread mindset than I think people realize. A lot of "rich" people just... don't pay their fucking bills. If the bill is low enough, the cost of getting your money exceeds the cost of just letting the bill go.

STEMthebleeding2

Let's rest that theory. Have NY charge Trump with theft, one count for every person whose ever stayed at his hotel or resort. Because according to him, since they traded money for services, that's theft.

Jake (Real)2

He's spent his entire life not paying for things and experiencing zero consequences for doing so, it makes sense

derek guy

@dieworkwear.bsky.social

Seems like an easy way to get the Fed to cut rates is to end the war with Iran, which is causing oil prices to spike, thus driving inflation. This will relieve Trump of the need to cut trade with other countries, which will only drive inflation higher, causing the Fed to raise rates once again.

5692h ago

willmcg.bsky.social8

You assume he understands the relationship between interest rates and inflation.

Daphne_du Maurier5

He’s too into it now bsky.app/profile/atru...

Just Jen2

One problem. He can’t figure out how to save face. For him, it would be like having an indestructible T-rex by the tail. 🦖

Coach Seb1

And if you want to see where artificially low rates leads - check out Turkey (particularly the clothing manufacturing sector...) bbc.com/audio/play/p...

Thinking1

Can you be our president, Mr Guy? Asking for a tired nation.

Dileep Rao1

This is what happens when morons put in charge a person who does not understand basic economics.

Robert Reich

@rbreich.bsky.social

Trump's need to assert dominance is igniting patriotism abroad and a backlash at home. His ridiculous bullying of Canada is completely backfiring. My latest for The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/02/trump-canada-tariffs-trade-war-backfiring

1252h ago

Milly Dogood5

He set out to make Canada more American and seems to have made Canada more Canadian. Empires have long discovered that humiliation is a remarkably efficient manufacturer of patriots. Bullying works best when the victim has neither alternatives nor pride. Canada inconveniently possesses both.

Katherine1

As a Canadian, I didn’t think I could detest him more than I do now.

Joel Klebanoff 🇨🇦1

Canadian, here. Foreign investors are also weighing in. ⤵️ www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/ma...

We stand for 🇨🇦1

It was just a distraction but backfire because lost miserably against Canada, and Iran.

Remember America!1

Name one good thing Trump has done for America … just one. Anything? Anybody? C’mon MAGA, we know you are out there / tell us what he has done good for you.

Ambassador Ken Fairfax (ret)

@portlandken.bsky.social

Dementia Don threatens to blow up the US economy if the Fed doesn't lower interest rates. Cutting off all trade with our major trading partners would lead to an almost instant economic collapse as the vital supply chains for factories, farms, and most other aspects of the economy grind to a halt.

564h ago

chichi602

He might have dementia but for the next few years he has the corrupt supreme court and republicans in Congress to help him in anyway they can oh and let's not forget DOJ yeah so there's that. Reality check Friday. Happy labor weekend everybody

djchocolatemlk.bsky.social2

He's everyone's special boy and no one can say no to him

kath-55-1.bsky.social1

Kicking and screaming like a fucking toddler!

fresistl.bsky.social1

Hello GOP...any Americans still active in your party?

dear Abbie1

this is why many score their own finances as strong while scoring the general economy as bad- they know their own finances could collapse any second (because of Trump and/or vibe-failure)

zee23out.bsky.social1

Trump got his jobs idiot to put out some fake jobs numbers. Now with his fake numbers wants to drop interest rates. Smart finance guys know it's bs. Been barely any new jobs or even losses and now out of the blue 162,000 new jobs. Trump's attempt to help gop midterms.

Patrick Chovanec

@prchovanec.bsky.social

Honestly, I think we should just let Trump cut off trade with everyone and see what happens.

692h ago

Patrick Chovanec39

It will be interesting to watch the people who complained about the Covid shutdowns spin that one.

Fredxie2

Sometimes you need to hit rock bottom before you can recover

Jay Shaw1

1/3 of the country is dumb enough to still vote for the GOP and 1/3 is too ignorant to show up and vote so pretty much the same shit

Patrick S. Noonan1

“… and see what gets cut off next” was just sitting there.

Jeff B

@jeff-maljjin.bsky.social

Narrator: he wants to stop trading with other countries anyway, since he doesn't understand what a trade deficit is.

646h ago

mollyr0se.bsky.social1

He calls himself a “stable genius” he isn’t stable let alone a genius. All he understands is his vanity projects.

Jared Friedman 🇺🇦1

What if Göring but dementia instead of morphine.

Scott Horton

@robertscotthorton.bsky.social

Trump's tariff wars and the complete unpredictability of Trump trade policy in general are causing companies to relocate north to Canada in order to escape the chaos. www.thestar.com/business/fac...

312h ago

AgonyFlips

@agonyflips.bsky.social

Trump complains Canada doesn't buy as much from the US as the US buys from Canada despite having 1/10 the population. To be fair, Canadians almost do, buying 7x as much per capita. But if Trump wants the trade deficit gone, Canada could cut oil exports to the US in half. Gas prices would skyrocket.🤷

336h ago

Mike the Mad Biologist and Trump's Fearmongel Advisor

@mikethemadbiol.bsky.social

Trump has no idea what a trade deficit actually is because he is very stupid.

222h ago

Stephen Nuñez

@socio-steve.bsky.social

Cut interest rates (and spike inflation) or I will simply stop all trade with any country with which we have a trade deficit (and destroy the economy).

172h ago

H. John Tran

@johnhtran.bsky.social

Trump today on Mexico: “We lose with Mexico $195 billion a year.” “They have nothing that we have to have.” “Hot tamales? Tomatoes? A couple of things?” That $195B isn’t money America just “lost.” It’s the trade deficit. Big difference.

113h ago

Quoting this

🍁 Christine 🍁3

Now Mexico is mean to the US. New target?

Lisa 🇨🇦

@pinkmouse.bsky.social

It is like a never-ending temper tantrum. “LOWER THE RATE OR I’LL STOP TRADING WITH COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE HAVE A DEFICIT, which the U.S. Supreme Court, in its ridiculous & very costly Tariff decision, strongly acknowledged ‘the President’ has an absolute right to do,” Trump said. #Trump #Blues

106h ago