In a move that blurs the traditional boundaries between monetary and trade policy, Donald Trump has warned that the Federal Reserve's reluctance to cut interest rates may cost certain nations their trading access to the United States. The statement fuses two domains of economic governance that have long been kept deliberately separate — one guided by independent mandate, the other by executive will. At its core, the threat raises an enduring question about institutional independence: whether the Federal Reserve's carefully guarded autonomy can withstand the weight of geopolitical leverage.