A modest knee-jerk reaction aside, investors appear confident President Donald Trump’s criticism of Federal Reserve rate increases won’t alter the central bank’s policy path. But it is possible that Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s job just got a lot harder.

“It’s not that I don’t take it seriously, but I think there may be more bluster than an actual intention to more meaningfully change policy,” said Lara Rhame, chief U.S. economist at FS Investments, in an interview.

In a CNBC interview, Trump on Thursday said he wasn’t “thrilled” by the Fed’s rate increases but that he was “letting them do what they feel is best.” On Friday, Trump ramped up the criticism via Twitter, charging that tighter monetary policy was punishing the U.S. by contributing to a stronger dollar.

“The U.S. should be allowed to recapture what was lost due to illegal currency manipulation and BAD Trade Deals. Debt coming due & we are raising rates - Really?,” he tweeted.

CNBC later Friday, citing an unidentified White House official, reported that Trump’s criticism of the Fed was prompted by fear the central bank will deliver two more quarter-point rate rises this year.

The remarks did appear to spook the dollar, with the ICE U.S. Dollar Index DXY, +0.01% , a measure of the U.S. unit against six major rivals, down around 0.8%. But Treasurys saw little impact, with the yield on the more rate-sensitive 2-year Treasury note TMUBMUSD02Y, 0.136% up 0.9 basis point at 2.595%.

The Fed has delivered two interest rate increases so far this year, bringing the fed-funds rate range to 1.75% to 2%, which is still low by historical standards. The Fed has signaled it is on track to deliver two more rate increases this year. Fed-fund futures traders see a 61.7% chance policy makers will raise rates at least twice more this year, up from 58.7% a day earlier and 56.6% a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

Stocks maintained a narrow range, trading flat to slightly lower in afternoon trade. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.29% was off 0.1%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.19% was virtually flat.

Independence is held sacrosanct by policy makers and economists, but is increasingly seen as vulnerable to backlash in the wake of a global financial crisis that saw the world’s central banks took controversial and extraordinary actions, often acting in a vacuum as politicians moved to the sidelines.

Read:Central banks are too powerful for their own good, says former Bank of England deputy governor

Trump’s criticism didn’t come as a major surprise. In recent weeks, White House officials have offered criticism of the Fed. Also, the White House on Thursday sought to clarify Trump’s remarks in the interview, saying they didn’t indicate a desire to question the Fed’s independence.

Still, some analysts said damage was done. Greg Valliere, chief global strategist at Horizon Investments, said Trump is likely to ratchet up criticism as the Fed continues to raise rates.

If the Fed does follow through, delivering two more increases this year and another two to three in 2019, Powell will likely face criticism not just from Trump but from Democrats such as Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, who may argue that aggressive tightening isn’t necessary.

As a result, Powell “may feel compelled to show that he isn’t swayed by political pressure and is vigilant against inflation,” he said.

But if Powell goes more slowly, there would be inevitable speculation in the markets that political pressure affected policy, Valliere said, even if the slower pace of increases was based solely on economic considerations.

“We understand that Fed policy is run by a committee, but the focus will be on Powell, and we worry that he can’t win; regardless of what he does, his motives will now be questioned,” he said.

Policy makers played it cool. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Trump’s public criticisms wouldn’t affect deliberations. “I think the committee will make the best judgment we can,” he said.

Rhame argued that Fed policy makers and staff are unlikely to be swayed by the noise. Financial markets would see more turmoil should Trump threaten to remove Powell or otherwise directly threaten the Fed’s independence, something she doesn’t see as likely.