Trump's War on Big Credit Is a Big Mistake

Ian Haworth
Tue, 13 Jan 2026 13:26:59 -0800
Opinion

Somehow, we're just days away from the first anniversary of the second Trump administration, and don't get me wrong, there have been a ton of positives. I'm talking about Trump's monumental victory in the battle against illegal immigration, the dismantling of much of Joe Biden's insane platform and of course the U.S. military strikes on the Iranian nuclear program.

But too often, the good is riddled with the bad, from confusing to outright Marxist, and almost always in the realm of the economy. Tariffs, state ownership of private industry and now another announcement that is straight out of Bernie Sanders' bucket list: credit card interest caps.

"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," Trump declared on Truth Social, along with his penchant for Bizarre Capitalization. "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%."
Updated: Tue Jan 13, 2026

Somehow, we're just days away from the first anniversary of the second Trump administration, and don't get me wrong, there have been a ton of positives. I'm talking about Trump's monumental victory in the battle against illegal immigration, the dismantling of much of Joe Biden's insane platform and of course the U.S. military strikes on the Iranian nuclear program.

But too often, the good is riddled with the bad, from confusing to outright Marxist, and almost always in the realm of the economy. Tariffs, state ownership of private industry and now another announcement that is straight out of Bernie Sanders' bucket list: credit card interest caps.

"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," Trump declared on Truth Social, along with his penchant for Bizarre Capitalization. "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%."

To make matters worse, Trump also announced that credit card companies that fail to comply would be "in violation of the law."

First, no, because that's not how any of this works. That's the responsibility of Congress — you remember them?

But second, even if this was legal — and it's really, really not — it's crucial to dig into the populist and leftist lie at the foundation of this campaign against big credit (let alone from a president who has blown out the national debt like a shopaholic with a no-limit platinum card who has just been told they have three days to live).

Sure, credit card interest rates are high, but before we all drink the Kool-Aid of price controls — price controls which are being embraced by Trump's brand of conservatism — ask yourself why they are so high. Well, it's simple! Credit card interest rates aren't set by a bunch of Monopoly-style billionaires playing roulette in a smoke-filled boardroom. They are just the price of risk.

Credit cards are unsecured debt, extended to millions of people with wildly different credit histories, incomes and spending habits. There's no collateral, and no guarantee of repayment. The interest rate reflects the probability that the lender will not be paid back, taking into account the cost of absorbing those losses.

So what happens if we cap interest rates at an arbitrarily low level? Credit card companies will just refuse their services.

If you tell banks they can only charge 10%, they will stop lending to anyone who presents meaningful risk. That doesn't mean the rich and financially stable get cheaper credit. It means the marginal borrower — the working-class family with a thin credit file, the young person just starting out, the person rebuilding after a setback — gets nothing at all.

Populist economics always leaves out this crucial detail: Credit access is not guaranteed, but conditional, and when you squeeze the upside while leaving the downside untouched, the rational response is to pull back.

The result would be fewer cards issued, lower credit limits, stricter underwriting and the quiet disappearance of credit for precisely the people Trump claims to be protecting. And when formal credit dries up, informal credit rushes in. After all, cars still break down, medical bills still arrive, jobs still fade away (even in Trump's supposedly stunning economy).

So instead of regulated banks, borrowers will inevitably turn to payday lenders, cash-advance apps or outright loan sharks. The interest rates there don't stop at 20 or 30%, but explode into triple digits, wrapped in fees, penalties and rollover traps that make credit cards look tame by comparison.

And when you don't pay, you might get a visit from a 300-pound man called Tyrone who just loves breaking kneecaps.

Yes, Americans are struggling with debt — both personal and governmental — but that doesn't make credit card companies to blame. Punishing borrowers by locking them out of credit won't make the affordability crisis better. It'll make it far, far worse.