US President Trump Calls for One-Year Cap on Credit Card Interest Rates at 10%

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he was calling for a one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10 percent, to take effect from January 20, though he did not spell out how the proposal would be implemented or how companies would be compelled to comply.

Trump had made a similar pledge during his 2024 election campaign, which he went on to win. At the time, analysts dismissed the promise, noting that imposing such a cap would require congressional approval.

Concerns over soaring credit card interest rates have been raised by lawmakers across party lines, with both Democrats and Republicans urging action. Republicans currently hold a narrow majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. While some legislative efforts have been introduced in Congress to pursue such a proposal, none have yet become law, and Trump did not explicitly endorse any specific bill.

Opposition lawmakers have criticised Trump, a Republican, for failing to deliver on his campaign promise.

“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 percent,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, offering no further details.
“Please be informed that we will no longer let the American public be ‘ripped off’ by credit card companies,” he added.

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for clarification on how the cap would be enforced, but said on social media—without elaboration—that the president was capping the rates.

Major US banks and credit card issuers, including American Express, Capital One Financial, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America, also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

US Senator Bernie Sanders, a vocal Trump critic, and Republican Senator Josh Hawley have previously introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at capping credit card interest rates at 10 percent for five years. The proposal explicitly directs credit card companies to limit rates as part of broader consumer relief measures.

Similarly, Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna have introduced a House bill seeking to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent, highlighting growing cross-party support for addressing high borrowing costs.

However, the proposal has drawn criticism from some quarters. Billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman, who endorsed Trump in the last election, called the move a “mistake.”

“This is a mistake,” Ackman wrote on X. “Without being able to charge rates adequate enough to cover losses and earn an adequate return on equity, credit card lenders will cancel cards for millions of consumers, who will have to turn to loan sharks for credit at rates higher than and on terms inferior to what they previously paid.”

Last year, the Trump administration moved to scrap a credit card late-fee rule introduced under former President Joe Biden. It asked a federal court to strike down a regulation that capped late fees at $8, siding with business and banking groups that argued the rule was illegal. A federal judge later overturned the regulation.