Trump backs Fed’s Warsh following rate hike - Semafor

Stocks rallied Thursday as markets digested the US Federal Reserve’s decision to hike interest rates — an expected move, but one that was seen as a critical test of the central bank’s independence.

“Stocks can move on, as uncertainty has faded,” an analyst told Bloomberg. US President Donald Trump criticized the decision but stopped short of faulting Fed Chair Kevin Warsh.

“Trump cares less about any specific outcome than about winning, and he won by replacing Jerome Powell with Warsh,” Semafor’s Liz Hoffman argued.

Though Warsh reiterated the central bank’s independence Wednesday, Trump later revealed that he spoke to him before the Fed’s meeting, suggesting Warsh may have been “trying to foam the runway,” a Wall Street Journal columnist wrote.