Can Donald Trump unilaterally cap credit card interest rates at 10%? It’s a request, not a law.

Amid voter concern about the economy and affordability, President Donald Trump announced a new policy: a 10% cap on credit card interest rates for one year.

A Jan. 10 White House X post included an image of Trump’s Truth Social post from the previous day that said in part, "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%."

On Jan. 11, two days before a planned economic-themed speech in Michigan, Trump discussed the policy with reporters on Air Force One. 

A reporter asked, "What happens if the credit card companies don't comply by the January date you set?"

Trump said, "Well, … then they're in violation of the law." He added that credit card companies have "really abused the public. … I'm not gonna let it happen."

There’s a problem with Trump saying credit card companies would be violating the law: There is no such law capping rates at 10%.

Trump has talked about implementing one since the 2024 presidential campaign. "We're going to put a temporary cap on credit card interest rates at 10%," he said in September 2024.  

PolitiFact is tracking updates on this pledge as part of our MAGA-Meter roster of 75 second-term Trump campaign promises. The capped-rate promise is Stalled because legislation in Congress has not advanced much beyond being introduced. 

At the time of publication, the White House had released no further details.

Even an executive order would be unlikely to carry legal weight, experts said. Executive orders are directives that manage operations of the federal government; they are typically not tailored to private-sector companies such as credit card issuers. 

"I think it’s obvious there can be no violation of law unless and until there is an actual law," said Ilya Somin, a George Mason University law professor. The exception would be if a previous Congress had empowered the president to set credit card rates, which none have.

University of North Carolina law professor Michael Gerhardt agreed: "I doubt the order, if that is what it is, is constitutional, given that this rule should come from Congress."

We asked the White House for the authority under which credit card companies would be defying a law, but we received no response.

Trump’s renewed push on the issue could give existing legislation a boost in the coming days. On Jan. 12, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee — Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts — said she and Trump had talked about the prospects for credit card interest rate cap legislation. 

The potential for bipartisan collaboration comes as the Federal Reserve Bank of New York has counted $1.23 trillion in U.S. credit card balances in the third quarter of 2025, a record level.

Lawmakers ranging from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., on the left to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., on the right have urged a cap on credit card interest rates. "We cannot continue to allow big banks to make huge profits ripping off the American people," Sanders and Hawley said in a joint press release last year.

But passing a law to implement a 10% cap through both chambers by Jan. 20 would be a heavy lift. 

A rate cap "is something the financial industry will fight hard," Ted Rossman, a Bankrate senior industry analyst, told CNBC. "This would be a huge hit to banks, credit card lenders and payment networks."

A joint statement by the American Bankers Association, the Bank Policy Institute, the Consumer Bankers Association, the Financial Services Forum and the Independent Community Bankers of America said a 10% cap would "would reduce credit availability" and be "devastating for millions of American families and small business owners."

Trump could simply assert that the 10% rate cap is legally binding and wait to defend that position in court.

Such a position "ought to be struck down in the courts, but we will have to wait to see if the courts, in fact, do that," Gerhardt said.

Our ruling

Trump said credit card companies would be "in violation of the law" if they don’t cap interest rates at 10% by Jan. 20.

When he said this, no law dictating a 10% rate cap was on the books, and passing one through both chambers in just over a week would be a major challenge.

Legal experts said an effort to impose an executive order on private-sector companies would be unlikely to succeed in the courts, though Trump could issue one nonetheless.

But as we published this fact-check, there was no law and no executive order. We rate Trump’s statement False.