US President Donald Trump urged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates on Sept. 4 after a stronger-than-expected August 2026 jobs report, arguing that the country’s economic strength and creditworthiness justified cheaper borrowing. The report increased market expectations that the Fed could keep policy tight or raise rates at its Sept. 16 meeting, making Trump’s demand and accompanying trade threat significant for financial markets.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the United States created 162,000 jobs in August, nearly three times economists’ forecast of 56,000. The unemployment rate remained at 4.1%.

In a Truth Social post, Trump called the results “great numbers” and said the stronger economy and improved US creditworthiness supported lower interest rates.

“Lower the interest rates because the U.S.A. is a much stronger credit than it was just a short time ago!
A STRONG COUNTRY MEANS A LOWER INTEREST RATE – IT’S A BETTER CREDIT,” Trump wrote.

Trump also said the United States should have the “lowest rate” of any country and urged the Fed’s leadership to “become patriots.”

Trump threatens to halt trade

Trump threatened to stop trading with countries with which the United States runs a trade deficit if the Fed does not cut rates.

“LOWER THE RATE OR I’LL STOP TRADING WITH COUNTRIES WITH WHICH WE HAVE A DEFICIT,” Trump said.

He claimed that high rates put the United States in a “very unfair position” and suggested that ending trade with those countries could serve as an alternative to tariffs. Trump also cited a US Supreme Court decision on tariff policy and said the president had the authority to take such action.

Markets reacted negatively to the stronger employment data, as the addition of 162,000 jobs against the projected 56,000 raised inflation concerns. The report also increased the likelihood that the Fed could maintain restrictive policy or raise rates at its Sept. 16 meeting. Fresh inflation data due the following week will be another factor in the central bank’s decision.

Trump called the market decline after the report “madness.” In another Truth Social post, he said the United States was living in a “false reality” if strong economic indicators were treated negatively because of inflation concerns.

“GROWTH DOES NOT CAUSE INFLATION!” Trump wrote, adding that the United States should pursue much higher gross domestic product growth rates.

Market participants respond

Strategy founder Michael Saylor highlighted the scale of the market response to economic data that differed from economists’ forecasts.

“America added 162,000 payroll jobs on a base of 159.1 million—0.10%. BLS puts the 90% confidence interval on the monthly change at roughly ±122,000. Yet trillions in assets reprice because economists guessed 56,000. We have turned statistical noise into monetary policy,” Saylor wrote.

Crypto skeptic Peter Schiff criticized Trump’s trade threat, arguing that ending trade with countries that run surpluses with the United States could result in a broad rollback of international commerce.

Schiff also suggested that the August employment figure could later be revised downward, citing previous patterns in statistical revisions.

Geiger Capital called Trump’s threat “absolutely unhinged.” Investor Jim Bianco raised the possibility that presidential pressure on the Fed could provoke a serious reaction in the government bond market.

Trump’s remarks had only a minor impact on the cryptocurrency market. Bitcoin was trading at $79,691 at the time of writing after breaking above $82,000 the previous day, according to a daily BTC/USDT chart on TradingView.

The Trump administration recently introduced tariffs ranging from 10% to 12.5% on imported goods from 60 countries.

Source: Incrypted