Trump chooses Kevin Warsh, as a new chairman of the Federal Reserve
Trump's choice of Federal Reserve chairman comes at a critical time for the central bank.
On Friday, President Donald Trump chose Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve official, to be the new head of the central bank. Warsh, a Wall Street investor and frequent critic of the Federal Reserve, was on the shortlist when current chairman Jerome Powell was chosen in 2017.
Trump has clashed repeatedly with Powell, threatening to fire him over the past year. Powell recently revealed he is under criminal investigation for his testimony before Congress regarding the cost of renovations to the Federal Reserve headquarters.
Trump wrote on social media on Friday: “I have known Kevin for a long time and have no doubt that he will go down in history as one of the greatest Federal Reserve Chairs, and possibly the best of all time. On top of all that, he is a perfect person and will never let you down.”
Trump had put forward a longer list of candidates, but Warsh was always considered a likely choice. While he was a proponent of interest rate hawkishness—preferring to keep rates high during times of inflation—he also questioned the Federal Reserve’s interventions in the government bond market. At one point, he called for a “fundamental change” to the institution.
