President Donald Trump is adamant that he is not seeking advice from Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh, telling reporters he has only spoken to Warsh once since the Senate confirmed him in May.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Trump has “repeatedly” called Warsh for advice on, for example, how the Iran war is affecting the economy, a departure from the president and the Federal Reserve operating independently of one another.
“The Wall Street Journal had a wrong story,” Trump told reporters on Monday in the White House‘s Oval Office. “I have tremendous respect for Kevin Warsh. I’ve only spoken to him one time, briefly, a few days ago. Just a conversation.”
The report underscores the politics of the economy before November’s election, particularly after oil and gas prices rose last weekend amid news that Iran was increasing its demands of the United States before opening the Strait of Hormuz.
About one-fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas supply used to pass through the Strait of Hormuz before Trump started Operation Epic Fury on Feb. 28.
Trump has similarly emphasized the importance of interest rates to the economy, pressuring Warsh’s predecessor, Jerome Powell, to decrease borrowing rates despite persistent inflation.
Trump nominated Powell during his first administration. The Justice Department was investigating the then-chairman last year regarding cost overruns with the $2.5 billion renovation of the Federal Reserve’s headquarters building in Washington, before dropping the allegations due to political pressure.
“I know what he’d like to do, but he has to run it,” Trump said of Warsh on Monday. “He’s got a board. It’s not only him. If it was up to him, it would be different, but he’s got a board.”
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The president added that Warsh, a former Morgan Stanley banker and onetime executive secretary of former President George W. Bush‘s National Economic Council, is “a great guy.”
“He’s my pick, and I’m going with him 100%,” he said. “They made it sound like I live and breathe, you know, I speak to him all the time, every time. I spoke to him one time.”