by WorldTribune Staff, October 12, 2026 Non-AI Real World News

On Sept. 16, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted unanimously to raise its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point to a range of 3.75% to 4%.

It marked the first rate hike since July 2023.

President Donald Trump had publicly urged the central bank to lower rates, accusing the board of acting against the country’s economic interests.

Not to mention, the rate hike came less than two months before the 2026 midterm elections.

Coincidence?

White House officials and trade adviser Peter Navarro argued that raising rates right before the midterms was politically motivated and ignored strong economic growth.

Speaking during a roundtable moderated by Newsmax anchor Ed Henry at the Newsmax Policy Summit in Washington, Navarro said “there was absolutely no reason for [the] Fed to raise rates when it did.”

Navarro contends that core inflation was declining and the economy was benefiting from increased investment and manufacturing activity.

Former Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore, however, defended the rate increase, saying it would establish Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh’s credibility in fighting inflation.

“I think it was the correct thing to do,” Moore said. “I think he’s establishing his inflation-fighting bona fides, which is very important for the markets.”

Navarro disagreed: “A rate hike two months before the election, really? That was politics, sir.”

Navarro argued that the Fed was failing to recognize that “what Trumpnomics is able to do is stimulate the economy without stoking inflation,” he said.

Navarro, the White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing, also touted what he described as a resurgence in domestic manufacturing driven by tariffs and provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act allowing businesses to immediately deduct qualifying factory investments.

The Trump Administration is tracking more than 800 new investment projects across 47 states, representing approximately $500 billion in investment, Navarro said.

Navarro also projected that tariffs would generate $3 trillion in federal revenue over the next decade. “We are in an age of tariffs,” he said, arguing that trade barriers were necessary to protect American manufacturing and the defense industrial base from unfair foreign competition.

The discussion also turned to the possibility that Republicans could lose control of one or both chambers of Congress in November, potentially limiting Trump’s ability to enact additional legislation.

Navarro maintained that the president would continue advancing his economic agenda through executive orders, proclamations, and existing trade authorities, including Section 232 tariffs on strategic commodities and Section 301 trade actions targeting unfair foreign trade practices.

“The president’s going to use executive orders and leadership to get stuff done,” he added.

A Democrat-controlled House will undoubtedly pursue investigations and subpoenas against the administration, potentially complicating the president’s efforts to implement his policies, Navarro said.

Moore predicted strong economic growth in 2027, arguing that Trump’s tax cuts, deregulation and energy policies would produce results even if voters remained dissatisfied with current prices.

Meanwhile, Trump is continuing his effort to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

The president on Friday established a “committee of inquiry” to investigate allegations that Cook made false statements in mortgage applications.

The inquiry will include a hearing at the White House Nov. 5, Trump said in a written memo, that Cook “shall” attend to answer questions from the committee. The hearing wouldn’t be public but a transcript would be published, the memo said.

“As President, it is my job to ensure the laws are faithfully executed, including by firing subordinates who cannot be trusted to tell the truth and follow the law,” Trump wrote in the memorandum establishing the committee of inquiry.

Cook’s attorneys, Abbe Lowell and Norman Eisen, said they were considering having Cook appear at the Nov. 5 hearing and respond to the charges.

250 Years of Freedom Is At Risk

  Fed’s rate hike ‘two months before the election, really? That was politics, sir’, WorldTribune.com