MaddowBlog-The problem(s) with Trump's radical pitch on credit card interest rates

[LetMyPeopleVote]

If the president is looking to give consumers a break, great. But pretending tweets and laws are the same thing won’t help anyone.

If Trump wants to give consumers a break on credit card interest rates, great.

But pretending tweets and laws are the same thing won’t help anyone. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-01-12T16:59:16.832Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/the-problems-with-trumps-radical-pitch-on-credit-card-interest-rates

Evidently, it’s back. On Friday night, the president published an item to his social media platform that read, in part:

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. 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%.

.....But there’s a more foundational problem to consider: Compelling financial giants to lower their interest rates requires an act of Congress, a regulatory action or both.

Trump can “call for” anything he wants, but the chest-thumping rhetoric is meaningless and hollow as far as policymaking goes.

Whether the president understands this is an open question.

Q: " What happens if the credit card companies don't comply by the January date [for 10% interest rate caps]?"

Trump: " Then they're in violation of the law. Very severe things."

— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2026-01-12T02:37:41.218Z

......Except that’s not how we do things in this country. A president can’t publish a vague and poorly written statement to social media, expressing a policy preference, and then tell a private industry that the missive reflects “the law.”

In authoritarian systems, strongmen bark orders and create laws by fiat. In the United States, as our sitting president really ought to understand by now, there’s quite a bit more to it.

If Trump is looking to give consumers a break, great. But pretending tweets and laws are the same thing won’t help anyone.