On January 23, when addressing global leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos by video stream, Donald Trump declared: “I’ll demand that interest rates drop immediately… they should be dropping all over the world.” The comments came on the heels of a Federal Reserve meeting days earlier in which chairman Jerome Powell opted to leave the rate unchanged at 4.25-4.5%, defying some calls for a cut. President Trump later took to social media and singled out Powell and the Fed for criticism specifically.

Then just over a week later, Trump struck an entirely different tone when asked by reporters about the decision: “I’m not surprised… I think holding rates at this point was the right thing to do.”

Why the change of heart? Inflation. Trump’s 180 on interest rates, combined with his apparent changing tack on the North America tariffs, suggests that the realities of global economics are beginning to weigh down on elements of the Trump policy agenda.