Davos got hard Trump treatment yesterday. He demanded that Saudi Arabia and OPEC lower oil prices to end the Ukraine war, and a rounded up $1 trillion in Saudi investments into the US despite those lower prices. Will Trump offer a US nuclear power and defence deal, and/or dealing with Iran, as quid pro quo?  But Trump may have another motive to encourage OPEC to lower the cost of oil: “When oil prices come down, everything is going to be cheaper for the American people.” Shortly after his demand for lower oil prices, Trump turned to the Fed, demanding that rate cuts should follow immediately after oil. And interest rates should come down “a lot.” The dollar will probably not like that: even though Trump demanded that other central banks follow suit, he has less traction over them.  The US president is certainly trying, though. Yesterday, Trump signed an executive order on digital financial technology. The decree primarily promotes private –and dollar-based– initiatives, but it also contains some sweeping actions against the efforts to develop central bank digital currencies, and not just in the US: “(v) including by prohibiting the establishment, issuance, circulation, and use of a CBDC within the jurisdiction of the United States.”  […]