June 17, 2026
It sure seems like President Trump and his brand-new hand-picked Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh are trying really hard not to step on each other’s toes…at least not yet.
In case you’re not picking up what’s happening here, today the Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates steady, and today was Kevin Warsh’s first Federal Reserve meeting as chairman.
Now, every time President Trump’s previous hand-picked Fed chair, Jerome Powell, kept interest rates steady, Trump railed on him, calling him every name in the book and demanding the Fed cut interest rates.
But now that it’s Kevin Warsh doing it, Trump said “whatever” and that he’s “guided by what Warsh says.”
When have you ever heard President Trump say he was guided by anyone?
How about never.
And when it comes to Warsh, he was asked several times about inflation and what he believes is causing it and about how the Fed will get it down.
And unlike the previous Fed chairman, Warsh refused to mention the president’s tariffs and the war with Iran as contributing factors to this inflation.
Instead, he would only direct reporters back to the Fed’s written statement, which does say, “Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East,” and says inflation is going in the wrong direction, “in part reflecting supply shocks that have driven price increases in certain sectors.”
A.K.A. the war in Iran and tariffs.
But Warsh would not repeat those words on camera.
Besides sidestepping the cause of inflation, Warsh made it very clear that this group of Federal Reserve governors under his leadership is going to do something about inflation, which is, according to the government’s own data, definitely going in the wrong direction.
But how?
We’ve been hearing that the Fed is going to deliver on price stability for the last five years as inflation has run higher than the Fed’s 2 percent target goal.
Warsh didn’t say.
However, the Fed board did.
They released their projections for the rest of the year, and that gives us an idea of how they’re going to tackle inflation.
Nine of the 19 Fed board members penciled in at least one interest rate hike this year.
The other important thing you need to know about Warsh’s first meeting is that he’s here to make big changes.
He already shortened the statement the Fed makes after every meeting, and he eliminated what’s called “forward guidance.”
For years the Fed has projected what they might do with monetary policy in the future, which has given the market and business owners a vague idea of what the Fed’s next move would be so they can make their own financial decisions.
Well, that’s now gone.
On top of those changes, Warsh said he has created five separate task forces to look into making additional changes to Fed communications, the Fed’s balance sheet, the Fed’s use of and reliance on existing data sources, productivity and jobs, and the Fed’s inflation framework.
He said recommendations from those task forces could come by the end of the year.
Lastly, I want you to hear from Chairman Warsh about his philosophy on balancing the Fed’s congressional mandate to ensure maximum employment and price stability.
Watch Warsh’s full press conference here.
Read the Fed’s projections here.
See Trump’s statement here.
