The Small Army of Trump Sycophants Gunning to be the Next Fed Chair

The following hilarious exchange ensued:

Karl: So, how is it a national security threat that, you know, how Brazil is handling a criminal case against this former president?

Hassett: Well, that’s not the only thing. That’s not the only thing. I mean—

Karl: So, what is it? I mean, I’ve asked what it is. I mean, it seems that that’s what President Trump’s talking about. He’s talking about his anger and his frustration. He’s been quite candid about it with the Bolsonaro case.

Hassett: Right. Well, the bottom line is that what we’re doing absolutely, collectively, across every country, is we’re onshoring production in the U.S. to reduce the national emergency that is—that we have a massive trade deficit, that’s putting it at risk should we need production in the U.S. because of a national security crisis. And this is part of an overall strategy to do that.

Karl: But again, as we’ve just established, we have a trade surplus with Brazil, not a deficit.

Hassett: But —

Karl: And we’ve had a surplus with Brazil for 18 years.

Hassett: If you look at an overall strategy, if you don’t have an overall strategy for this, then there’ll be trans shipping and everything else, and you won’t achieve your objectives.

Karl: Okay. I’m still confused, but let me move on.

In that same appearance, Hassett referred to Trump as “one of the most successful, if not the most successful, businessmen in the 20th century.”

Warsh may be down, but he isn’t out. The guy who, last month, was intoning that “inflation is a choice” and that spending was out of control, called for lower interest rates in an appearance this past weekend on Fox News, and praised Trump for “putting the fiscal house in order through this tax bill.” That would be the same tax bill that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, doubles the budget deficit. “We’re going to grow a lot more than the Congressional Budget Office says,” Warsh said. Pooh-poohing the CBO is a central Trump loyalty test.

Not to be outdone by Hassett on the cost overruns, Warsh said that when he was at the Fed a decade ago, he was partially responsible for the Fed budget and became familiar with bureaucratic pressures to overspend. “I can’t imagine that that’s a good use of taxpayer money,” Warsh said. “Maybe a new paint job, maybe some fresh computer terminals.”

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, a dark horse candidate for the job, complained on Fox News that “I guess this tariff derangement syndrome happens even over at the Fed.” Never mind that Bessent’s own most notable role in Trump’s tariff policy has been to delay implementation of the tariffs. Trump advisors have reportedly considered appointing Bessent Fed chair while he remains Treasury secretary. (As The New York Times reported Friday, one way the Trump administration envisions government efficiency is to saddle its members with multiple jobs.)

Two other dark-horse candidates, Fed governor Christopher Waller and Fed vice chair Michelle Bowman, have called publicly for rate cuts, which is defensible. They’ve also both stated that they don’t expect Trump’s tariffs to be inflationary, which is not. Saying tariffs aren’t inflationary is something no economic expert would ever say unless he or she was angling for a better job in the Trump administration. Waller’s even done a little TV, appearing last month on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” But in June, Waller and Bowman both voted with Powell to keep rates steady, and anyway, if the Trump strategy is to delegitimize Powell by criticizing cost overruns, it’s difficult to see how Trump can replace Powell with some other high-ranking official at this supposedly spendthrift agency.