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Trump Said to Call Warsh In Latest Signal of Push to Remake Fed

Josh Wingrove and Enda Curran

Thu, August 6, 2026 at 9:14 AM EDT4 min read

(Bloomberg) -- US President Donald Trump has periodically spoken by phone with Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh since he took the role, people familiar with the matter said, the latest sign of Trump's effort to exert greater influence over the central bank.

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Trump and Warsh have spoken multiple times since the latter was confirmed in May, with Trump inquiring about Warsh's forecasts and opinions but not pushing him to take any specific course of action, one of the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the private conversations. One person said they speak irregularly, and another said their calls are infrequent. It's unclear if the two have discussed monetary policy.

"President Trump has repeatedly stressed that he is giving Chairman Warsh the space he needs to restore confidence and competence in Fed decision-making," White House spokesman Kush Desai said in an emailed statement. "While the President has his First Amendment right as an American citizen and duty as Commander in Chief to voice his thoughts about the Fed, he has also repeatedly reaffirmed Chairman Warsh and the Fed's independence."

The Fed declined to comment. The calls were first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

While the full nature of their conversations remains hazy, Trump has long implored the Fed to slash interest rates. Past presidents and Fed chairs have held calls and meetings, though they have been rare, and Trump's drive to influence monetary policy has amounted to the most forceful intervention in the central bank's policy making in decades.

Trump routinely brushes away inflation concerns in calling for lower borrowing costs, but has taken a less combative approach since Warsh's confirmation.

In testimony to lawmakers last month, Warsh said Trump hasn't tried to interfere with the central bank but avoided directly answering questions about whether he's communicated with Trump since taking the Fed's helm.

"I just don't want to be in the business of sharing discussions that the president and I have," Warsh said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing, while vowing to be "an independent guy."

"I certainly don't feel uncomfortable receiving a call from the chairman of this committee or the president of the United States," Warsh said on July 15.

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Previous Fed chairs have issued press releases after meetings with the president. One example: in May 2025, then-Fed Chair Jerome Powell issued a release to notify the public of his meeting with Trump, in which he said he did not discuss his outlook for monetary policy. Warsh meets regularly with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, following a longstanding precedent of interactions between leaders of the Treasury and Fed.

Trump repeatedly criticized Powell, who remains on the Fed board, over his interest-rate decisions. The administration opened a probe into Powell over a renovation project at the bank's headquarters. Trump has also sought unsuccessfully to fire Governor Lisa Cook and is said to be weighing similar moves against Governor Michael Barr.

The president's public treatment of Warsh has been different. During his swearing-in ceremony, Trump said he wants the Fed chair "to be totally independent."

"Don't look at me, don't look at anybody, just do your own thing and do a great job," Trump said at the ceremony.

Trump repeatedly chastised Powell for being "too late" to lower rates. But after Warsh held them steady, the president didn't blame the chair and instead said the outcome was due to a board he accused of being "very political."

The president's cumulative pressure campaign has continued to blur the line between the central bank and the administration, potentially clouding its independence. It also adds another factor for Warsh as the Fed looks to navigate the fallout from Trump's war in Iran and the fluctuations in energy prices, as well as Trump's shifting tariff regime, lingering inflation and a hefty US budget deficit.

The Journal's report on the calls between Trump and Warsh said the president has sought Warsh's views on a range of issues, including the economic impact of the war in Iran and the rise of artificial intelligence. Warsh often gave Trump a positive picture of the economy, the report said, but it's unclear if they discussed monetary policy.

--With assistance from Catherine Lucey and Jennifer A. Dlouhy.

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