Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday signaled that the White House wants Trump's tax cut package from 2017 to be extended permanently before their expiration this year, rather than a temporary extension.

While in the past Trump has implored the Fed to cut its benchmark rate, Bessent said the current strategy is using the levers of fiscal policy to keep rates low. The benchmark the administration is using will be the 10-year Treasury, not the federal funds rate that the central bank controls, he added.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Donald Trump is not asking the Federal Reserve to lower its short-term interest rates, but what he and the president do want is to bring down longer-term borrowing costs via 10-year Treasury yields.

The Trump administration isn't looking to clash with the Federal Reserve over interest rates, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told said. Instead, the focus of the White House is on lowering Treasury yields as a way to ease borrowing costs.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, shown at a confirmation hearing, said President Donald Trump is "not calling for the Fed to lower interest rates." AFP President Donald Trump is focused on 10-year Treasury yields to bring down borrowing costs rather than the Federal Reserve actions on short-term interest rates,