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.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on FOX Business Network's "Kudlow" and urged Republicans to make President Trump's tax cut permanent, 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.