A “Trump card” with an interest rate of 10 percent could be coming to Americans through banks that want to join President Donald Trump in lowering credit card rates.
Kevin Hassett, the director of the National Economic Council, said the concept of a one-year cap of 10 percent could be implemented voluntarily without needing to go through Congress.
“Our expectation is that it won’t necessarily require legislation, because there will be really great new Trump cards presented for folks that are voluntarily provided by the banks,” Hassett said on Fox Business.
“We’ve been in conversations with the big banks, with CEOs of many of the big banks who think that the president is on to something, that he’s got a great idea,” he said.
Banks “could potentially voluntarily provide for people who are in that sort of sweet spot — not having financial leverage very much because they don’t have access to credit, but they have enough income and stability in their lives that they’re worthy of credit,” Hassett said.
Trump kicked off the idea in a social media post earlier this month.
“Please be informed that we will no longer let the American Public be ‘ripped off’ by Credit Card Companies that are charging Interest Rates of 20 to 30%, and even more, which festered unimpeded during the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration,” Trump posted on Truth Social, adding “AFFORDABILITY!”
“Effective January 20, 2026, I, as President of the United States, am calling for a one year cap on Credit Card Interest Rates of 10%,” Trump posted.
“Coincidentally, the January 20th date will coincide with the one year anniversary of the historic and very successful Trump Administration. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP,” he wrote.
Trump pushed the interest rate cap along with banning large institutional investors from buying single-family homes and a push to have Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy $200 billion in mortgage bonds to lower mortgage rates, according to The Hill.
Banks panned Trump’s concept.
“We share the President’s goal of helping Americans access more affordable credit,” several banking industry associations said after Trump proposed the idea.
“At the same time, evidence shows that a 10% interest rate cap would reduce credit availability and be devastating for millions of American families and small business owners who rely on and value their credit cards, the very consumers this proposal intends to help,” the statement said.
“If enacted, this cap would only drive consumers toward less regulated, more costly alternatives.”
Legislation to impose a cap lacks broad congressional support.
“Like everything else we, you know, you would need legislation to do something like that, and we’d have a lot of work to build consensus around it, but you got to be very careful if you go forward in that. In our zeal to bring down costs, you don’t want to have negative secondary effects,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said.
The average credit card interest rate was 19.64 percent as of Monday, according to Bankrate.
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