FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as Jerome Powell, his nominee to become chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 2, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell “let us down” with a quarter-percentage-point interest rate cut on Wednesday, saying the market wanted a signal that a “lengthy and aggressive rate-cutting cycle” was under way.

“What the Market wanted to hear from Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve was that this was the beginning of a lengthy and aggressive rate-cutting cycle which would keep pace with China, The European Union and other countries around the world,” Trump tweeted just hours after the U.S. central bank released its latest policy statement.

“As usual, Powell let us down, but at least he is ending quantitative tightening, which shouldn’t have started in the first place,” he added.