Trump sent Fed Chair Jerome Powell a hand-written note attacking him over interest rates

President Donald Trump on Monday sent a hand-written note to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell assailing him for not lowering interest rates.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt displayed the caustic note during a daily press briefing. It had a list of 44 countries and their corresponding interest rates.

"The American people want to borrow money cheaply and they should be able to do that," Leavitt told reporters. "But unfortunately, we have interest rates that are still too high."

Trump's diatribe against Powell was written in what appeared to be a black sharpie marker. He has long been fond of employing black sharpies to sign government documents, executive orders, and the occasional screed for social media posts.

Highlighted in yellow was a cohort of nine countries with interest rates at 4.5% that included the U.S., Guatemala, Israel and Vietnam among others. "Jerome — you are, as usual, 'Too Late,'" Trump wrote. "You have cost the USA a fortune — and continue to do so — You should lower the rate — By a lot!"

Further above, Trump wrote that the U.S. "should be here" and drew an arrow toward Denmark and the Seychelle Islands. Both have interest rates at 1.75%. The current U.S. benchmark interest rate is between 4.25% and 4.5%

A spokesperson for the Federal Reserve declined to comment.

The correspondence was an extension of Trump's long-running and intensifying campaign against the Fed for not cutting interest rates. A lower interest rate is tied to looser economic conditions that encourage more borrowing and therefore more consumer activity.

The Fed has long been treated as an independent institution that helps steer the economy through changes to interest rates. But Trump seems intent to erode its autonomy. He has consistently lashed out against Powell and threatened to remove him. The Supreme Court released a decision last month shielding the Fed from Trump-ordered firings that have taken place across the federal government.

During congressional testimony last week, Powell reaffirmed his belief that the U.S. economy remains sturdy enough to sustain growth without intervention from the Fed. Central bank policymakers have met four times in a row and decided to keep interest rates at the same level. The last time that the Fed cut rates was half-a-year ago in December.

Powell suggested that Trump's tariffs had tied the Fed's hands and kept it from cutting rates further this year. "At this time all forecasters are expecting pretty soon that some significant inflation will show up from tariffs," he said. "And we can't just ignore that."