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Fri, 22 May 2026

Fri, 22 May 2026 Trump wants new Fed chair to be 'totally independent'

The US president piled major pressure on Kevin Warsh's predecessor to cut interest rates.

* Donald Trump told incoming Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh to be "totally independent" and ignore outside opinions at his White House swearing-in ceremony.
* Critics had warned that Warsh would be a "sock puppet" for Trump, but the president urged him to make his own decisions.
* The Fed has defied Trump's calls for interest rate cuts, instead keeping rates steady or even increasing them in some forecasts.
* Trump praised Warsh as being "no one in America is better prepared" to lead the bank and called for him to let the economy "boom".
* Warsh faces a challenge in balancing his role as Fed Chairman while avoiding White House interference.
* The US President also claimed that the Federal Reserve had "lost its way" under Jerome Powell's leadership, becoming distracted by issues unrelated to its core purposes.