Transcript: President Trump Swears in Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair

We’re so lucky to have him. The Federal Reserve is a pillar of the world financial system and the most important central bank anywhere in the world, with a history stretching back more than 100 years. It is truly the institution that’s most looked to and most respected, and it’s now taken on a new and even higher respect, in my opinion.

And honestly, I really mean this. This is not said in any other way. I want Kevin to be totally independent. I want him to be independent and just do a great job. Don’t look at me. Don’t look at anybody. Do your own thing and do a great job, okay?

Restoring the Fed’s Core Mandate

Unfortunately, in the eyes of many, the Fed lost its way in recent years. It became distracted by concerns far removed from its core mission and mandate, drifting into matters such as climate policy and DEI initiatives, with the Fed straying from its mandate. While the last administration blew out the deficit, Americans suffered the worst inflation that we had in history. It was the worst inflation we’ve ever had.

As you know, some people say you’re wrong about that. It was only in 48 years, but I think 48 years almost sounds worse. The worst inflation we’ve ever had, so it made it very difficult.

Kevin has spoken often about the need to restore the Fed’s integrity by returning to a proper focus on its two functional and really fundamental responsibilities, maintaining price stability and low inflation, and achieving full employment. And we talk about it. We’ve talked about it often. And right now, we have the most people working in the United States than we’ve ever had.

Record Employment and Economic Growth

We have never had as many people working right now in the United States, and it’s something that I like to say, and it’s been pretty much that way ever since I’ve been President. When I go back to the first term, I had those numbers, too, and I kept them. And we’ve done things that are really amazing, but we can bring it to a new and higher level with Kevin. I think we can bring it to a level that nobody ever thought possible.

Restoring Confidence in the Fed

By following through on this vision, Kevin will restore confidence in the Fed, which is so important, and among Americans all across the political spectrum and people from all over the world. They’re going to be looking to Kevin probably and possibly more than any other person that’s had your esteemed position before. I think that’s true, Kevin. You’ve got a lot of people watching.

I fully expect that with the greatest Fed chairs before him, Kevin will safeguard the Fed’s integrity. They’ll make their own decisions and hopefully make them well. But they’ll be listening to Kevin all the way. I really believe that. Even if they’re from a somewhat different persuasion, they’re going to be listening to him out of respect, because everybody respects him.

Growth Without Inflation

Thankfully, unlike some of his predecessors, Kevin understands that when the economy is booming, it is — that’s a good thing. We don’t have to go crazy. Just let it boom. We want it to boom. We want it to be like nobody has ever had before, because we do have some debt we’d like to take care of. And the way you do that is through growth. We’re going to grow our way out of it so fast.

And Kevin is somebody — and I feel strongly also — we don’t want to see it stifled. We want to stop inflation, but we don’t want to stop greatness. And so that’s really a very good thing, a very positive thing, and that’s what he’s looking to do. He’s looking to do positive economic growth. It’s so important.

And as we discussed, economic growth doesn’t mean inflation. It can be just the opposite, actually. But economic growth does not mean inflation. You don’t have to stop the world because you’re doing well.

Reform and Modernization at the Fed

Kevin’s also said that he’ll bring much-needed reform and modernization, transforming obsolete data collection methods, rolling back reliance on inaccurate models, and curtailing the Fed’s practice of issuing so-called forward guidance. They want to do things on that. I guess it’s a little complex subject, but it’s something that Kevin knows about better than probably anybody here.

He has the temperament and leadership abilities to foster collaboration among the entire board. And I know he will welcome robust debate in his mission to keep prices stable and employment high. Kevin will have the full support of my administration. Every one of these people felt — including Kevin, by the way — felt so strongly about this choice. And we have no doubt. We have absolutely no doubt. So important, too. So big. So important.

Stock Market Hits Record Highs

Turned on the television. I want to see how the stock market is doing today. Stock market is up 600 points. That means they like you. If they didn’t like you — It’s actually up to 50,702. So that’s as of about 12 minutes ago now. Who knows? But I think it can only go up. I think with you, it’s only going to go up.

That was a number that nobody thought was reachable during my entire four years. If you look at some of the great pundits, they said, well, 50,000 would be impossible during the four years. But sometime after — and we hit it in the first year. But now we’re really hitting it. And think of it, it’s up to 50,702. And S&P likewise set a new record today. They both set new records today. And boy, that’s something good. But you’re going to bring it to a much different level, believe me. It’s good, but it can go much better. And that’s what I think you’re going to do.

Tax Cuts, Regulation Cuts, and Military Strength

PRESIDENT TRUMP: In my first year, we passed the largest tax cuts in American history, the largest regulation cuts in American history, and the largest spending cuts in American history — all things that are so important to greatness. And last year, we passed the largest tax cuts in American history. We slashed the budget by almost $500 billion.

At the same time, our military was at $1.2 trillion, and we’ll be doing the one thing we are going to be doing is — and we build everything in America. We build it here. It’s jobs, jobs, jobs. But it’s also strength, strength, strength. We’re going to be submitting a military budget for $1.5 trillion.

We have the greatest military in the world. I built it during my first term. I didn’t know we’d be using it so much in my second term. But they gave away a little bit of it during somebody else’s term, foolishly. But it’s a very small part relative to the whole. But we have the greatest military in the world.

I was with President Xi, and I said to him, we have the greatest military in the world. And he actually didn’t agree. We had a great meeting. He actually didn’t disagree with me on that very much, I will tell you. But we really do what we’ve done in Venezuela, you see, what we’ve done to Iran. Iran is dying to make a deal. We’ll see what happens. But we hit them hard, and we had no choice because Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. They cannot have it.

Cutting Regulations: 129 to One

So, I promised to cut 10 old regulations, as you know, in my first term, for every new regulation. If you put a new regulation in, that’s fine, but you had to cut at least 10. And so far, this — and I did that. It was actually 1 to 12, so I did a little bit better. So far — we’re blowing it away this year. So far, it’s 1 for 129. In other words, we’re cutting 129 regulations for every one, Mr. Speaker, that we put in. So, that’s music to your ears.

We don’t even have to go through Congress for that. You know, that’s — it’s a lot easier. If I do it, it’s a lot easier. But all of these actions are aimed at lowering costs, creating jobs, and driving economic growth.

Historic Employment and Private Sector Growth

Jobless claims recently hit the lowest level since 1969. Under our leadership, 5 million people have been lifted off of the food stamps. Think of that under — just in a short period of time. More Americans are working today, as I said, than ever before. And very importantly, 100 percent of the net new jobs under this administration have been created in the private sector, which is a number that nobody has ever seen. Think of that. They’re all in the private sector.

And we did get rid of a lot of government jobs. You had jobs where there were 10 people for every single job and every single event, and they were doing all the same thing, or they weren’t doing very much. And they didn’t like me for a while, and now they’re all working at private sector jobs, and they’re making double, triple, quadruple the pay. And they’re loving life, and they’re loving going to work.

And it was a painful experience, cutting that many people from the federal government. But it’s been amazing. And, you know, you just can’t have that. You can never make a country, as I say, great again if you’re going to have all government jobs. We’re all private jobs, and the jobs are coming.

$18 Trillion Invested in the United States

We’re building more plants, more equipment than anybody has ever — any President has ever done, any administration has ever done. And the number I like the best is we have $18 trillion being invested in the United States for 11 months, not 12. We haven’t gotten the results from 12 yet. We’re pretty new. But in 11 months, we have $18 trillion being invested — with a T — being invested in the United States.

Tariffs, Manufacturing, and the Return of American Industry

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And the record was $3 trillion many years ago by a different country that I actually just left. It starts with a C. But we have — and that was three. And we’re at $18 trillion. We’re building factories, car plants, everything — AI, everything — all over the country. Nobody has ever seen anything like it.

And I have to say, I have to give the credit to what used to — I used to say it was my favorite word. My favorite word of all. But I got in such trouble because when I said tariff is my favorite word, the media went crazy. They said, “What about your wife, your family? What about God? What about religion?” So, I said, “Okay, good. I’ll make it my fifth favorite word.” Right?

But because of tariffs, we have tremendous amounts of — I mean, the car companies are all coming back. They left us for 35, 40 years. They left us a chip. We will have 50 percent of the chip-making capability of who that man right there is. Let’s stand up, will you please? But is that right? We’re going to have 50 percent by the time I leave office. And maybe more than that. They’re moving in from Taiwan. They’re moving in from other places. And they’re building in Arizona in particular — in that particular case.

But between the auto plants — we have more auto plants under construction now than we’ve ever had before. We went many years, and there was no plant built. And it’s all due to what we did with tariffs. I guess November 5th, but all because of the tariffs and what they’ve done — used properly, used judiciously. So, it’s really something special.

Unprecedented Investment and Construction Across America

So, we have all this — all these plants under construction. They’ll be completed over the next year and a half. And you’re going to see numbers like we’ve never seen in this country before. No country has ever seen the kind of numbers you’re going to see. And we have some of the people in this room. Look at them. Some of the geniuses that are building those plants.

You know, a plant used to cost — if you built a shopping center, it would cost $50 million — a nice center, but $500 million is a giant, beautiful center. These people are investing. You’re going to have to look in — $50 billion on a building for AI. Fifty billion. It’s — I say, “How big is it?” “Well, it goes three miles by five miles.” I don’t know that you drive three miles, five miles. But it means jobs, and it’s got tremendous potential for a lot of things.

But when you talk about growth, no country will see — and you’ll start to see that very soon — no country will see the growth that we’re going to experience and that we’re already experiencing, but that we’re going to experience. And one of the things that you see early on is we have the highest number of construction jobs we’ve ever had, and that’s because they’re building all of these plants, auto plants. All of these plants are being built, including medical.

Bringing Medical Manufacturing Back to America

Medical is pouring back in. Eli Lilly and so many of the — they’re building six major plants. They’re going to make almost all of their medicines here. We learned during COVID it’s not good to be held hostage by foreign countries. We’re building all of these plants here. Lilly, Pfizer, all of them, they’re all building tens of billions of dollars’ worth of medical plants. We’re going to have almost all of our medicines made in our country, which is a really good thing to have.

During four years of Biden, our country secured less than $1 trillion. Think of that, though. And we’re doing $18 trillion. And everyone is talking about that because nobody has ever seen anything like it. And a short time ago — and I say this often — the King of Saudi Arabia said to me two years ago — he said — I was over there. And, by the way, they invested $2 trillion.

America’s Future Is Unlimited

PRESIDENT TRUMP: But I was over there talking to him, getting him to invest a lot of money in our country. And he said, “You know, President, two years ago, you were a dead country. And today, you’re the hottest country anywhere in the world.” We’re the hottest country anywhere in the world. And we’re going to need guidance. And you’re going to give us that guidance.

But all of the things that we’ve done — numbers that have tripled and quadrupled. And we do need — we need a really steady hand at probably maybe, in many ways, the most — I don’t know, I have two great justices of the Supreme Court here, so I have to say — I don’t know which is more important, being a justice of the Supreme Court or your job. I’m not sure about that. I’m not sure. I think I’d rather be a justice between you and I. It might be easier. You’re going to find out. You’ll be saying, “That’s a very easy job.”

With the support and strong and wise chairmanship at the Federal Reserve, so important. America’s future will truly be unlimited with Kevin — with Kevin at the helm. And he’s off to an incredible start with his family, with his education, with his background, with all of the things he’s done. He’s respected by everybody.

So important is to have that level of respect where you can walk into a room and people will listen to you, as opposed to walking into a room and not having that kind of persona. He has a persona like nobody else. So I just want to say congratulations, Chairman Warsh. You are really a special person. And getting this job — the people that wanted this job, the most highly trained, highly educated, some of the greatest credentials I’ve ever seen. And as far as I’m concerned, nobody was even close.

And I just want to congratulate you. And I’d like to ask, if I might, Jane, to step forward. And our very highly respected Justice Clarence Thomas to come up and swear in — give him a good oath, if you would, because we — Clarence, we need a really good oath delivered here. Okay? Thank you very much. Thank you. Please.

The Swearing-In Ceremony

JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: I, too, solemnly swear —

KEVIN WARSH: I, Kevin Warsh, do solemnly swear —

JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States —

KEVIN WARSH: That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States —

JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: Against all enemies, foreign and domestic —

KEVIN WARSH: Against all enemies, foreign and domestic —

JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same —

KEVIN WARSH: That I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same —

JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: That I take this obligation freely —

KEVIN WARSH: That I take this obligation freely —

JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: Without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion —

KEVIN WARSH: Without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion —

JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: And that I will well and faithfully discharge —

KEVIN WARSH: And that I will well and faithfully discharge —

JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: The duties of the office on which I’m about to enter —

KEVIN WARSH: The duties of the office upon which I’m about to enter.

JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS: So help me, God.

KEVIN WARSH: So help me, God.

Chairman Warsh Delivers Remarks

KEVIN WARSH: Thank you, Mr. President. This is above and beyond. It is such an honor for Jane and me to have this ceremony here in the East Room with you, sir. I couldn’t ask for a more beautiful setting or a more gracious welcome, and I am grateful.

I recognize, as the President said, that ours is a time of great consequence. It’s also a great honor for me to have the oath of office administered by one of the great and longest-serving public servants, a brilliant and independent thinker, a man dedicated to our Constitution and, no less important, a joyful and collegial presence on our highest court, my esteemed friend, Justice Clarence Thomas.

Now, Justice Kavanaugh is here as well. We served as young staffers a full generation ago in this building.

Kevin Warsh’s Remarks as Incoming Federal Reserve Chairman

KEVIN WARSH: And I shouldn’t be speaking for another justice, but I will tell you something that I always felt, that Justice Kavanaugh and I felt the majesty of this place where we’re now sitting. And we counted ourselves blessed and grateful to serve the nation we love and to do it in your building, sir.

And, of course, I must thank Leader Thune, Chairman Tim Scott and his fellow members of the Banking Committee who saw me through the Senate confirmation. My whole family and I are joined by many others here today who I’m honored to call friends and colleagues, mentors, confidants. Their presence means a lot to me and I think it means a lot to the President, too.

It’s the honor of a lifetime to be called back into public service. And with this oath, I’ve accepted a high and solemn responsibility. At the swearing-in of Alan Greenspan, at this very place in 1987, President Ronald Reagan called the chairmanship of the Federal Reserve a, quote, “great role in American life.”

Tribute to Chairman Greenspan

I’ve known five of my predecessors in this job, some of them quite well, but Chairman Greenspan was the first to tell me and show me what this role demands. He recently marked his 100th birthday and although he can’t be here, I’m thinking about him today, too.

Like Alan, I intend to fill the role of chairman with energy and purpose, just the way Chairman Greenspan did, faithful to the mission and the very best traditions of the Fed.

Vision for Prosperity and the Fed’s Mandate

As you demonstrate, Mr. President, every day, energy and purpose are how big obstacles are overcome. Your greatest ambitions are for America, for what free people can achieve when they have the chance. And while I’m not naive about the challenges we face, I believe, Mr. President, these years can bring unmatched prosperity that will raise living standards for Americans from all walks of life. And the Fed has something to do with it.

Our mandate at the Fed is to promote price stability and maximum employment. When we pursue those aims with wisdom and clarity, independence and resolve, inflation can be lower, growth stronger, real take-home pay higher, and America can be more prosperous. And no less important, America’s place in the world more secure.

Commitment to Reform and Excellence

To fulfill this mission, I will lead a reform-oriented Federal Reserve, learning from past successes and mistakes both, escaping static frameworks and models, and upholding clear standards of integrity and performance.

Today marks a return to an institution that I do in fact cherish. It was nearly a generation ago, at another time of great consequence, that I worked with some outstanding public servants at the Fed, both here in Washington and at the Reserve Banks. My goal now is to create an environment in which the best people can do their life’s best work, and to face every challenge in the spirit of common purpose and devotion to the national interest, in a word, to excellence.

These duties are now mine, Mr. President, because of the trust you have placed in me. I accept them with gratitude, and will strive every day to serve our fellow citizens well.

And in final, I’ll just say I’m going to look around and try to hold on to this special moment. But after we leave this stage, the real work begins. So let’s begin that work. It’s an honor. Thank you again, Mr. President.

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