Trump announces one-year 10% cap on credit card interest rates | Donald Trump
Donald Trump this week announced a one-year cap that would cap credit card interest rates at 10%, a move that drew mixed reactions from lawmakers and others.
President’s social media The post on Friday night stated that the restriction would come into force on January 20, but did not provide details on how the government would enforce it or ensure companies comply.
“Please remember that we will no longer allow the American People to be ‘robbed’ by Credit Card Companies charging 20 to 30% and even more Interest Rates that have festered unimpeded during the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.
“Coincidentally, January 20th will coincide with the one-year anniversary of the historic and very successful Trump Administration.”
During his second-term campaign, Trump said he would impose such a limit because American credit card debt had reached a record high. More than $1.1 trillion. US credit card debt exceeds this and reaches record level A huge figure of 1.17 trillion dollars We are growing in the third quarter of 2024 $770 billion in the first quarter of 2021.
Senators Bernie Sanders and Josh Hawley introduced a bipartisan bill in February 2025 that would cap credit card interest rates at 10% for the next five years after seeing a campaign promise fall through.
“When major financial institutions charge interest over 25 percent on credit cards, they are not in the business of providing loans. They are engaging in extortion and usury. We cannot continue to allow big banks to make huge profits by ripping off the American people. This legislation will provide desperately needed financial relief to working families struggling to pay their bills,” lawmakers said in a statement announcing the bill.
with major opposition Based on comments from banking groups, the bill did not advance in Congress.
Just a day before Trump’s announcement, Sanders criticized Trump for not fulfilling his campaign promise.
“Trump promised to keep credit card interest rates at 10 percent and stop Wall Street from getting away with murder,” Sanders said. wrote to x on Friday. “Instead, it deregulated big banks from charging up to $100. 30% interest on credit cards.”
Hours later, the president made the announcement, drawing fire from billionaire hedge fund manager and Trump supporter Bill Ackman.
Ackman first posted, then deleted, a tweet calling Trump’s statement “a mistake” and warning that credit card issuers could cancel consumer cards if they couldn’t charge interest “sufficient to cover losses and generate adequate returns on equity.”
“I think President @realDonaldTrump’s goal of lowering credit card interest rates is valuable and important.” Ackman later shared: Saturday at X. “My concern about capping interest rates at 10% is that it will inevitably lead to millions of Americans having their cards canceled because credit card companies will lose the ability to appropriately price subprime credit risk.”
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren also expressed doubts about whether Trump could impose such a cap without approval from Congress.
“Begging credit card companies to be nice is a joke. I said a year ago that if Trump was serious, I would try to pass a bill capping interest rates,” Warren said. a statement.
“Since then he has done nothing but try to hang up. [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau]. Trump doesn’t care about affordability. Americans know fraud when they see it.”
Similar to the response to Sanders and Hawley’s bill, further opposition was seconded by the Banking Policy Institute, American Bankers Association, Consumer Bankers Association, Financial Services Forum, and Independent Community Bankers of America, which issued a joint statement on the announcement: “We share the President’s goal of helping Americans access more affordable credit. At the same time, evidence shows that a 10% interest rate cap would reduce the availability of credit and be devastating to the millions of American families and small business owners who rely on and value their credit.” This offer aims to help consumers. If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers to less regulated, more costly alternatives. “We look forward to working with the administration to ensure Americans have access to the credit they need.”
In response, Hawley praised the move and wrote About X: “Great idea. Can’t wait to vote on it.”
