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Trump Picked This Fed Chair. He Just Raised Rates Anyway.
On 16 September 2026 the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate by a quarter point, to a target range of 3.75%-4%. It is the first increase since 2023, and the FOMC voted 12-0.
The chair who did it is Kevin Warsh, appointed by Donald Trump in the expectation that he would cut.
In the days before the meeting the president, the vice president and the Treasury secretary all publicly urged the Fed not to raise. Trump posted that the Fed board must "get smart" and "BE PATRIOTS for a change". He also said, on the day, that he had told Warsh to vote for the hike with the rest of the board and that it was "not going to matter". Hours after the decision he called for rates to be cut to 1% or less.
Asked at the press conference whether the decision was a test of the Fed's independence, Warsh answered: "Part of the independence of the Federal Reserve is we stay in our lane. Independence is a two-way street."
Officials' median forecast is at least one more quarter-point rise this year. US retail sales rose more than 1% in August.
References
Reporting drawn from CNBC - CNN - NPR - Bloomberg - The Hill - Washington Times
What the reel says
Narration as scripted and voiced.
The Federal Reserve just raised interest rates for the first time since 2023
a quarter point to a range of three and three quarters to 4%. The vote was 12 to nothing
It is the first increase in three years, and it lands with the economy still running warm. Retail sales rose more than one percent in August
The reason is inflation. In the chair's words, "The plain fact is that it is too high and has been for too long."
What makes this one unusual is who did it. Kevin Warsh was picked for the job by Donald Trump, who wanted rates lower
In the days before the meeting, the president, the vice president, and the treasury secretary all urged the Fed not to raise
Trump posted that the Fed board must get smart and be patriots for a change. Then he said he had told Warsh to vote for the hike anyway and that it would not matter
Asked whether this was a test of the Fed's independence, Warsh answered this
Part of the independence of the Federal Reserve is we stay in our lane. Independence is a two -way street. We'll let people that do trade policy and fiscal policy stay in their lane too.
Hours after the decision, the president called for rates to be cut to 1% or less
For anyone carrying a mortgage, a card balance, or a car loan, borrowing just got more expensive, not less
Officials expect at least one more quarter point rise before the year is out
A rate rise is a judgment that inflation is the bigger danger. Seven weeks from the midterms, that judgment is on the record
All footage is the Federal Reserve's own FOMC press conference, 16 September 2026.
