Remember when Donald Trump said he would cut credit card interest rates down to 10%?

No, I'm not talking about what he's said recently. I’m talking about what he said in September 2024 during his presidential campaign.

But after he was elected, we didn’t hear a peep about it.

Instead, his Administration has been showering politically connected companies, like the credit card giants, with all sorts of favors, tax breaks, and industry deregulation. What’s happened since? Credit card company stocks, and their CEO pay packages, have surged.

As the cost of nearly everything goes up, credit card companies are sitting pretty. That’s because when those prices go up, it means more people will rely on credit cards to get by — and credit card companies take a cut of every purchase. 

Americans now owe over $1.2 trillion on their credit cards — the highest level on record. With so many people struggling with higher prices, nearly half of credit card users are now carrying a balance on their card.

This is where the big bonanza is: interest payments. In 2024, people paid about $160 billion in interest on their credit card. That’s over $400 million per day — and a 50% increase from 2022.

Right now, the typical American is paying near-record interest rates on their credit cards — with the average rate over 20%. That’s way higher than the interest rates on other types of loans, making it easier to get trapped on a treadmill of debt.

As Americans are souring on Trump’s economy, and his failure to address the cost of living crisis, he is bringing back his promise to cap credit card interest rates. 

And while he talks a big game about helping people with debt, his cronies are doing the exact opposite.

Take the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency I led until 2025. 

The new regime at the CFPB has effectively shut down all oversight of credit card companies. 

For years, the credit card companies harvested billions of dollars in illegal fees by exploiting a loophole. We worked to close it, and when the credit card industry pushed to get those fees back, the Trump administration quickly took their side.

The agency has also ripped up law enforcement actions against numerous corporations that have broken the law. That includes Citibank, which illegally discriminated against people with Armenian last names on their credit cards.

Trump’s CFPB has even abandoned its enforcement of laws cracking down on predatory lenders who charge excessive interest rates to members of our military. 

But it’s not just the CFPB. 

Trump’s financial regulators rubber-stamped a credit card megamerger between Capital One and Discover that’s expected to push up rates and fees even more. And the administration is siding with companies that are suing to stop states like Colorado from enacting their own laws capping interest rates on credit cards and other loans.

So when you hear Trump claim he wants to help ordinary people with their credit card debt, don’t just listen to his words — look for his actions.

Because what you’ll find is the opposite. 

He’s making a small clique of huge financial companies even more powerful, while leaving everyone else to pay the price.