By Josh Dawsey, Annie Linskey and Natalie Andrews
President Trump joked during a speech Saturday night that he would sue Kevin Warsh, his nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, if he didn't lower interest rates.
Trump was the featured speaker at the Alfalfa Club's annual black-tie dinner and presented a roast-style speech at the closed-door event. Trump told the group of business leaders and Washington elite that he picked Warsh because he seemed straight from central casting, according to people in the room.
Asked about those comments aboard Air Force One later Saturday evening, Trump said, "It's a roast." He said he didn't extract any commitments from Warsh for the nomination. "I could have done that I guess if I wanted, but I didn't," he said.
Warsh, if confirmed, is supposed to operate independently of the president's wishes. Trump's nomination of Warsh on Friday ended a monthslong internal deliberation as he stepped up criticism on the current chair, Jerome Powell, for not lowering interest rates as much as the president has wanted. Powell's term as chair expires in mid-May.
The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about the president's remarks.
In his speech, the president talked about the prospect of bombing Iran again, people in the room said. The U.S. military has assembled a large number of ships and aircraft in the Middle East within striking range of Iran. Trump has threatened to strike Iran if it doesn't stop killing protesters and if it doesn't agree to a nuclear deal.
"They're talking to us, a lot of things could happen," Trump said on Air Force One.
At the dinner at the Washington Hilton, Trump was set to share a table with former President George W. Bush, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.), according to a seating chart. Warsh and Powell were also expected to be in attendance, as was Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, and several other current and former members of Congress.
Trump said during his speech that he saw Roberts in the room and that he couldn't make jokes about him because he needed to "kiss his ass," the people said.
The president singled out several other dinner attendees during his remarks, including former Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican. The audience applauded in support of Romney as Trump called him a left-winger, according to one of the people in the room.
Trump also told reporters that he had spoken to Jeb Bush, his formal rival from 2016. "He's been very nice to me the last six months," he said of the brother of the former president.
Warsh served on the Fed's board of governors from 2006 to 2011, playing behind-the-scenes roles in the rescue of Wall Street during the financial crisis.
The Fed cut interest rates three times last year to guard against the risk of a sharper-than-expected slowdown in the labor market. The central bank held rates steady this past week in a range between 3.5% and 3.75%.
Trump has demanded that rates go lower. He told The Wall Street Journal in December that he thought rates should be at 1% or even lower.
He lashed out at Powell after the Fed's decision Wednesday to hold rates steady. "He is hurting our Country, and its National Security," Trump said on social media, referring to the chair as a "moron."
Write to Josh Dawsey at Joshua.Dawsey@WSJ.com, Annie Linskey at annie.linskey@wsj.com and Natalie Andrews at natalie.andrews@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 31, 2026 23:26 ET (04:26 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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