Trump Says Credit Card Firms Violate Law If Rates Not Capped

(Bloomberg) — President Donald Trump said that credit-card lenders would be “in violation of the law” if they don’t heed his call to cap interest rates at 10% for one year.

Trump, speaking Sunday to reporters on Air Force One as he returned to Washington from Florida, doubled down on his demand that card issuers lower interest rates to 10% and keep them there for one year. He set a Jan. 20 deadline for compliance.

Most Read from Bloomberg

If the rates have not been capped by then, Trump said, “then they’re in violation of the law. Some of them are charging 28, almost 30%. People don’t know they’re paying 30%. They’re working and have no idea they’re paying 30%.”

“They really abused the credit cards,” he said of major lenders.

Trump’s demand to cap rates was not backed up by legislation and he provided no explanation for how the lenders would be breaking the law.

Still, the comments bring a slew of card issuers led by JPMorgan Chase & Co., Capital One Financial Corp. and Citigroup Inc. into the crosshairs. Shares in Barclays Plc, which has a US credit card business, were down 4.2% at 8:20 a.m. in London.

Card interest rates — hovering above 20% in recent years — have become a target of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, with bills popping up and meeting stiff resistance from the industry. Banking trade groups have conjured foreboding predictions of what would happen if rates were slashed, endangering profitability: Americans on the brink could lose access to credit and be left with payday lenders and pawn shops.

But in response to Trump’s call, industry groups including the Bank Policy Institute and Consumer Bankers Association struck a more measured tone.

“We share the president’s goal of helping Americans access more affordable credit,” the groups said in a joint statement late Friday. “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.”

–With assistance from Paige Smith.

(Updates with details of lenders, Barclays share price.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

©2026 Bloomberg L.P.