Trump says Warsh should have voted against Fed’s rate hike
Trump has long pressured the Fed to lower borrowing costs
PRESIDENT Donald Trump said Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh should have voted against a move to hike interest rates last month, but said he did not blame him for the central bank’s decision.
“I don’t blame Kevin Warsh. I probably would have voted against the board if I were him,” Trump told Time magazine in an interview published on Thursday (Oct 1).
Asked about his comments later on Thursday, Trump said he wants Warsh to “vote the way he wants.”
Trump has long pressed the Fed to lower borrowing costs, but the central bank last month bucked his pressure, voting to raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point and penciling in an additional hike later this year, steps aimed at containing inflation. The vote was unanimous.
The president on Thursday blamed inflation on his predecessor, Joe Biden, and groused that “the problem is interest rates will hurt our growth.”
While Trump assailed Warsh’s predecessor, Jerome Powell, for not moving more aggressively to lower rates, the president has insisted he retains confidence in his hand-picked chair, instead placing the blame on what he says is a politically motivated board.
“It’s become very political. I don’t blame you, Kevin. I think it’s too bad. Not fair,” Trump said in the interview.
“We have a very hostile board, and the board says, ‘We want to hurt Trump.’ They’re not doing this for you. They’re doing this because they have Trump derangement syndrome,” he added. BLOOMBERG
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