Bessent says Trump wants lower 10-year yields, not Fed cuts

US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent arrives for a press conference with the US president and Israel's prime minister in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2025. AFP
US Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent arrives for a press conference with the US president and Israel's prime minister in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 4, 2025. AFP

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration’s focus with regard to bringing down borrowing costs is 10-year Treasury yields, rather than the Federal Reserve’s benchmark short-term interest rate.

“He and I are focused on the 10-year Treasury,” Bessent said in an interview with Fox Business Wednesday when asked about whether President Donald Trump wants lower interest rates. “He is not calling for the Fed to lower rates.”

Bessent repeated his view that expanding energy supply will help lower inflation. For working-class Americans, “the energy component for them is one of the surest indicators for long-term inflation expectations,” he said.

“So if we can get gasoline back down, heating oil back down, then those consumers not only will be saving money, but their optimism for the future will” help them rebuild from the recent years of high inflation, Bessent said.

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