June 17 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Wednesday expressed confidence in Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh after the new central bank chief concluded his first rate-setting meeting with a decision to leave interest rates unchanged and published projections that showed nearly half of U.S. central bankers feel a rate hike will be needed this year.
“It’s all right. Whatever,” Trump said in France, when asked what he felt about the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates steady.
Trump had repeatedly railed at Warsh’s predecessor, Jerome Powell, calling him a moron and a knucklehead, among many other names, for not cutting rates. Trump says that the central bank ought to lower borrowing costs to help the housing market, boost the economy, and reduce the cost of the government borrowing.Â
But on Wednesday, Trump had no such words for Warsh, whom he has said looks like he comes out of central casting for the part.
“It could happen,” Trump said, when asked about the possibility of a rate hike. “It’s hard to believe. It just keeps the country down and it’s so, it’s so, unusual. But we have a very good guy over there right now so I’m guided by what he wants.”
Meanwhile, Warsh, at a press conference following the decision, declined to say anything about where rates may need to head.
He also declined to say whether he had spoken with the president since taking the helm at the Fed last month, though he did say he had met several times with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
“So on the president, I don’t have anything for you,” Warsh said. “With respect to the Treasury secretary, he has been posting pictures of our breakfast, so … I don’t think I can deny that the long tradition at the central bank is that the Fed chairman and the Treasury secretary meet weekly. I think we’ve pulled off three of those so far. Believe he’s overseas this week, so this will be the exception of the rule.”
Warsh told lawmakers at his confirmation hearing that he planned to cooperate closely with the administration on non-monetary policy matters.Â
(Reporting by Dan Burns and Michael S. Derby, Steve Holland, Ann Saphir, Editing by Franklin Paul and Andrea Ricci )
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