By Amanda Macias
Fox News
Published March 17, 2026 3:00pm EDT
唐纳德·特朗普总统本就渴望美联储降息。如果说有哪个时刻他更迫切希望降息，那将是周三，但他与伊朗的战争可能破坏了这一机会，推高油价并重新引发通胀担忧，而这些担忧使降息更难被证明合理。
几乎没有什么比美联储更能决定美国人的购买力，尽管大多数人很少关注它。美联储不设定食品杂货或汽车价格，但它确实会影响借贷成本。而现在，高利率正使抵押贷款、汽车贷款和信用卡账单高得令人痛苦。
当美联储为期两天的会议于周三结束时，政策制定者普遍预计将维持利率不变。
现在，伊朗战争不仅使本周的决策复杂化，如果冲突持续并保持油价高企，还将影响未来的道路。
特朗普与美联储：冲突如何进入无人区
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美国联邦储备委员会主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔预计将宣布本周央行将维持利率稳定。(Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)
伊朗及中东地区的针锋相对的打击已帮助原油价格自2022年以来首次突破每桶100美元，震动全球市场并重新引发对能源供应趋紧的担忧。
这种压力开始影响消费者。随着油价攀升，汽油和柴油价格快速上涨——尤其是柴油，由于与货运和工业需求密切相关，其价格往往上涨更快。
特朗普在伊朗冲突期间关注的解决油价上涨的非传统工具
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截至3月17日，美国汽车协会(AAA)的数据显示，全国普通汽油均价为每加仑3.79美元，较一个月前上涨88美分，而柴油价格攀升至每加仑5.04美元，同期上涨1.39美元。
航空燃料价格也在上涨。
对于航空公司来说，燃料是最大的运营成本之一，因此持续上涨可能会压缩利润，推高机票价格，并为已经因国土安全部停摆而复杂化的旅行旺季增加新的压力。
随着特朗普威胁打击伊朗石油基础设施，石油和汽油价格飙升
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住房市场也感受到了压力。
自伊朗战争开始以来，抵押贷款利率已逐渐上升。抵押贷款银行家协会的数据显示，基准30年期固定利率在2月底降至6%以下，为2022年9月以来的最低水平，截至3月16日已升至6.26%。
与此同时，美联储正面临劳动力市场开始出现裂痕的局面。2月份雇主裁员92,000人，超出了就业增长的预期，使政策制定者的前景更加模糊。
这种顽固的通胀和疲软的就业市场的结合，只会加剧特朗普的压力，而他降低美国人成本的承诺是其竞选活动的核心。
几个月来，他一直敦促美联储主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔降息，认为更低的借贷成本将刺激增长并缓解美国家庭压力。然而，美联储官员表示，在降息前需要更明确的通胀降温证据。
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唐纳德·特朗普总统提名凯文·沃什接替美联储的鲍威尔。(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
周四，特朗普在伊朗冲突引发能源价格飙升的余波中，敦促鲍威尔”立即”降息。
“美联储主席杰罗姆·”为时已晚”·鲍威尔在哪里？他应该立即降低利率，而不是等待下一次会议，”特朗普在Truth Social帖子中使用了对鲍威尔的嘲讽性昵称。
对特朗普来说，时机非常不利。
他竞选时承诺降低美国人的成本，但与伊朗的冲突却可能产生相反的效果——推高能源价格，复杂化美联储的路径，并给他核心经济承诺之一带来新的压力。
Amanda为福克斯新闻数字频道报道商业与政治的交叉领域。
Soaring gas prices, rising mortgage rates and a weakening job market are complicating Trump’s promise to lower costs for Americans
By Amanda Macias
Fox News
Published March 17, 2026 3:00pm EDT
President Donald Trump was already eager for a Federal Reserve rate cut. If there were ever a moment for him to want one even more, it would be Wednesday, but his war with Iran may have blown it, driving up oil prices and reviving the inflation fears that make cuts harder to justify.
Few things shape what Americans can afford more than the Federal Reserve, even if most people rarely pay attention to it. The central bank doesn’t set the price of groceries or cars, but it does help determine how expensive it is to borrow money. And, right now, high rates are keeping mortgage payments, car loans and credit card bills painfully high.
When the Fed’s two-day meeting wraps up Wednesday, policymakers are widely expected to leave rates unchanged.
Now, the Iran war is complicating not just this week’s decision but the path ahead if the conflict drags on and keeps oil prices elevated.
TRUMP VS THE FEDERAL RESERVE: HOW THE CLASH REACHED UNCHARTED TERRITORY
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U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is widely expected to announce that the central bank will hold rates steady this week. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images)
Tit-for-tat strikes in Iran and across the Middle East have helped push crude above $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022, rattling global markets and renewing concerns about tighter energy supplies.
That pressure is starting to hit consumers. As oil prices climb, gasoline and diesel prices are rising quickly — especially diesel, which often moves faster because of its close ties to freight and industrial demand.
THE UNLIKELY TOOL TRUMP IS EYEING TO TACKLE RISING OIL PRICES AMID THE IRAN CONFLICT
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As of March 17, AAA put the national average for regular gasoline at $3.79 a gallon, up 88 cents from a month earlier, while diesel climbed to $5.04, up $1.39 over the same period.
Jet fuel is getting more expensive, too.
For airlines, fuel is one of the biggest operating costs, so sustained increases could squeeze margins, push up ticket prices and add fresh strain to a travel season already complicated by the DHS shutdown.
OIL, GAS PRICES JUMP AS TRUMP FLIRTS WITH STRIKING IRANIAN OIL INFRASTRUCTURE
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The pressure is showing up in housing, too.
Mortgage rates have crept higher since the start of the Iran war. The benchmark 30-year fixed rate dipped below 6% in late February, its lowest level since September 2022, before rising higher to 6.26% as of March 16, according to data compiled by the Mortgage Bankers Association.
At the same time, the Fed is grappling with a labor market that is starting to crack. Employers shed 92,000 jobs in February, defying expectations for job growth and muddying the outlook for policymakers.
That combination of stubborn inflation and a weakening labor market has only intensified pressure from Trump, whose promise to lower costs for Americans was a centerpiece of his campaign.
For months, he has pressed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to lower interest rates, arguing that cheaper borrowing would spur growth and offer relief to American households. Fed officials, however, have signaled they want clearer evidence that inflation is cooling before cutting.
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President Donald Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to succeed Powell at the Federal Reserve.(Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
On Thursday, Trump pressed Powell to cut interest rates “immediately” as fallout from the conflict involving Iran fuels an energy price spike.
“Where is the Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome “Too Late” Powell, today? He should be dropping Interest Rates, IMMEDIATELY, not waiting for the next meeting,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post using a mocking nickname for Powell.
For Trump, the timing is brutal.
He campaigned on lowering costs for Americans, but the conflict involving Iran is threatening to do the opposite — driving up energy prices, complicating the Fed’s path and putting fresh pressure on one of his core economic promises.
Amanda covers the intersection of business and politics for Fox News Digital.
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