President Donald Trump said he would “demand that interest rates be lowered immediately.”

the president Donald Trump On Thursday, the Federal Reserve made its first volley, saying it would apply pressure to lower interest rates.

Talk through video In a wide-ranging policy speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the new president did not mention the Fed but said he would seek lower interest rates.

“I will demand that interest rates be lowered immediately,” Trump said. “Equally, they have to come down around the world. Interest rates have to follow us everywhere.”

The comments were an initial strike at Fed officials, with whom he had a very contentious relationship during his first term in office. He often criticized the chairman Jerome PowellThe Trump appointee has sometimes called politicians “boneheads” and compared Powell to a golfer who can’t hit.

Stocks reacted little to the announcement, though the policy-sensitive 2-year Treasury yield fell to 4.29%.

In the activity covering the first week of the president’s powers, he did not discuss his views on monetary policy. However, during the presidential campaign, Trump indicated that he should have a say in interest rate decisions.

For their part, Powell and his colleagues emphasized the importance of Fed independence. Powell, in particular, often insisted that the central bank does not make decisions based on political considerations. Trump has no legal authority over the Fed, although he appoints members to the board of governors.

The Fed’s independence is seen as important for stable markets, although the central bank has come under fire in recent years for dismissing an inflation hike in 2021 as “temporary”, leading to a series of aggressive hikes.

Trump’s comments came less than a week before the Fed’s two-day policy meeting, which concludes on Wednesday.

Markets see virtually no chance that the Fed will further cut its benchmark borrowing rate to a range of 4.25-4.5% after a full rate cut in the final four months of 2024. According to CME Group data, the probability of the first rate cut will occur in June, and the probability of another move before the end of the year is about 50-50.

The Fed cut its funds rate after raising it by 5.25 percentage points in an effort to fight inflation. While inflation still hovers above the central bank’s 2% mandate, officials said there was no need for policy to be restrictive as they saw the pace of price increases moderate.

Trump blamed the rise in inflation under the former president Joe Biden on “wasteful deficit spending”.

“The result is the worst inflationary crisis in modern history and sky-high interest rates for our citizens and even around the world. Food prices and the cost of almost everything known to mankind have gone through the roof,” he said.

The Fed official refused to comment on Trump’s words.