U.S. President Donald Trump reapplied pressure on the Central Bank, the Federal Reserve (Fed), saying the United States would have no choice but to halt trade with some countries where America runs deficits if the Fed does not cut rates. As markets watch for the possibility of a Fed benchmark rate hike based on oil prices and the consumer price index (CPI), Trump's renewed mention of the extreme step of a "trade halt" appears to be an attempt to press for a rate cut.
On the 13th (local time), just before departing for home after visiting Ireland, Trump met reporters at the airport and, when asked whether he would actually carry out the trade-halt threat he posted on the social network Truth Social on the 4th, said, "Yes. I will do that with some countries," delivering the same message.
Trump added, "I have no choice. We do not want to run deficits (in trade) with other countries. I want to run a surplus or at least see a balanced trade account," and said, "But previous presidents allowed massive deficits. We will not tolerate that." He continued, "This will be done over a period of time."
Earlier, on the 4th, Trump wrote on Truth Social, "If rates are not cut, we will halt trade with countries where we run deficits." That appears to be an effort to pressure a rate cut ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting scheduled for Sept. 15–16.
Amid this, the recent interest-rate futures market sees a strong chance that the Fed could raise rates at this FOMC. Even so, as with Trump's remarks that day, there is keen attention on whether the United States will actually implement the extreme step of halting trade with certain countries.
Meanwhile, Trump criticized as "horrible" the spread of a video from the Sept. 11 ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks at New York City's "Ground Zero," showing New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (Democrat–New York), called a "progressive icon," smiling at each other. He added, "That is not a place for smiling — especially at a time like that," noting, "The fact that they were smiling at each other during a very important part of the ceremony is inappropriate."
Trump also said that, in connection with a woman at the ceremony who lost her husband in the 9/11 attacks and asked him to deliver justice regarding Saudi Arabia's role at the time, he would consider releasing more records after returning home. Earlier on the 11th, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released a large trove of previously classified government documents related to al-Qaida, which carried out the 9/11 attacks, and its leader Osama bin Laden.