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Your guide to what the 2024 US elections mean for Washington and the world

Donald Trump has put pressure on Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell to lower borrowing costs, setting up a potential conflict between the two men less than a week before the US central bank meets to set interest rates.

During an appearance in the Oval Office on Thursday to sign several new executive orders, Trump said he knows Rates “Much better” than the Fed, and he would like to see them come down “a lot.”

The US central bank is widely expected to hold its benchmark rate between 4.25-4.5 percent next week, marking a pause after three consecutive cuts since September.

the feeding She noted a slower pace of cuts this year with some officials concerned that Trump’s plan to raise tariffs, cut taxes, and trash immigration will hamper efforts to beat inflation to 2 percent.

“Fears [at the Fed] Mahmood Pradhan in Amundi said:

But the Federal Reserve’s more cautious stance puts it in a collision course with the new US president.

Trump He said Thursday that he expects the Fed will listen to his demands and will talk to Powell “at the appropriate time.”

“I think I know interest rates a lot better than you do, and I think I certainly know them a lot better than the person who is primarily responsible for making that decision,” Trump said. “If I don’t agree, I’ll let it be known.”

Trump elevated Powell to the Fed chair during his first term in office, but has often criticized him, especially for not cutting rates quickly enough in 2019. The president indicated on the campaign trail last year that he would not try to remove Powell from office before his term ends in Year 2026.

“If the Fed continues to hold rates where they are and thinks it would be nice to get a boost below rates, there is a real chance of conflict,” said Douglas Holtz, president of the American Action Forum. Center Right Policy Institute.

Some economists said that if Trump’s policies raise rates, it could force the Fed to hold back from additional cuts or even raise borrowing costs.

“If the administration does things that really start to push up inflation, the Fed’s mandate is pretty clear — they’re going to push up rates. They’re going to get it in the neck.” [from Trump] “If they do,” said Mark Blythe, a professor of economics at Brown University.

Trump used a speech to executives in Davos earlier on Thursday to say he wants prices to fall “all around the world” — and told the OPEC cartel Reducing oil prices To achieve this.

He touched on the topic again in his Oval Office remarks to reporters a few hours later.

“I would like to see oil prices go down, and when energy goes down, that will drive out a lot of inflation. That will automatically drive interest rates down,” Trump said.

Thursday also raised new doubts about Washington’s commitment to NATO and called for more defense spending by US treaty allies.

“They are not protecting us,” he said of NATO countries. “We’re protecting them. So I don’t think we should spend, I’m not sure we should spend anything, but we should definitely help them. But they should raise 2 percent.” [of GDP on defence spending] to 5 percent. “

Trump’s NATO comments came a day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio was sworn in and “reaffirmed the United States’ commitment” to the group, according to a record of his conversation with the alliance’s secretary, Mark Rutte.

Among other executive orders Trump signed Thursday, one created a national cryptocurrency stockpile and another to authorize the release of federal files on the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, former attorney Robert Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

“The American people deserve transparency and the truth” about the killings, Trump said. “A lot of people have been waiting for this for years, for decades, and everything will be revealed.”