Trump Pushes 10% Credit Card Rate Cap, Faces GOP Resistance
President Donald Trump called on Congress Wednesday to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year, a move aimed at easing pressure on American families but one that’s met resistance from Republican leadership and Wall Street alike.
Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump criticized the credit card industry’s massive profits and accused lenders of predatory behavior.
“The profit margin for credit card companies now exceeds 50%, and they charge Americans interest rates of 28%, 30%, 31%, 32%,” Trump said. “Whatever happened to usury? To help our citizens recover from the Biden disaster, I’m asking Congress to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for one year.”
Trump argued such a cap would help working families afford essentials and start saving for homes, especially after years of inflation and high interest rates under Joe Biden’s failed economic policies. He previously pressured banks and lenders to voluntarily lower rates, setting a deadline for January 20, but no action was taken.
The idea has drawn rare support from populists across the aisle — including Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), and even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) — all of whom back similar proposals. Last year, Hawley and Sanders introduced legislation to cap credit card rates at 10% for five years. Reps. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and Ocasio-Cortez brought a comparable bill to the House.
Even far-left Senator Elizabeth Warren said she received a call from Trump last week on the issue. She criticized him for not doing more while in office but acknowledged his interest in the matter.
Still, Trump’s proposal faces steep opposition from within his own party. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate GOP Leader John Thune (R-SD) both voiced skepticism.
“You’ve got to be very careful,” Johnson said. “If you do that, the negative secondary effect is that [credit card companies] would just stop lending money.”
Thune dismissed the idea outright, saying, “That’s not something I’m out there advocating for,” and suggested Trump was “getting bad advice.”
Financial executives are pushing back as well. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned of dire consequences if a cap were enacted.
“In the worst case, you’d have a drastic reduction of the credit card business for 80% of Americans,” Dimon said. He mocked the proposal, suggesting it be tested in the home states of Sanders and Warren “to see what happens.”
According to Dimon, the biggest losers under Trump’s cap wouldn’t be banks, but everyday Americans unable to access credit. “It’ll be the restaurants, the retailers, the travel companies, the schools, the municipalities, because people miss their water payments,” he warned.
Despite the pushback, Trump’s latest move puts GOP leaders in a politically delicate position. As the party standard-bearer ramps up pressure on behalf of working-class voters, Republicans risk alienating the base if they continue to side with Wall Street against a president who remains wildly popular among conservatives.