One of Trump’s Top Economic Allies Just Broke His Silence Over the Fed’s Rate Hike

Donald Trump stood in front of cameras this week and called the Federal Reserve committee "clowns" for even weighing a rate hike.

Every Fed governor Trump installed, including his handpicked chairman, voted for that hike anyway.

One of Trump's top economic allies just broke his silence over that hike on Fox Business.

Trump's Pick Votes Nine To Zero Against Him

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark rate a quarter point this week to a range of 3.75 to 4 percent.

The vote was unanimous.

Every single governor Trump has influence over, including Kevin Warsh, signed off on a hike Trump publicly trashed just days earlier.

Warsh is not some Biden holdover hiding in the basement of the Eccles Building.

Trump handpicked him for this job specifically because he promised the lowest rates in the world.

Instead Warsh delivered the first rate increase since 2023, and the Fed's projections show no cuts coming through all of 2027.

That is not a snub.

That is a middle finger to the man who put him there.

Stephen Moore, who spent years advising Trump on economic policy, went on Fox Business Wednesday and said he would have gone along with it too.

"If I were on the Federal Reserve Board today, I would reluctantly have gone along with this quarter point rate increase," Moore said.

Moore did not sugarcoat why.

"Nobody likes rate increases," he said. "But the number one job of the Fed – I believe their only job – is to keep prices stable and the dollar stable."

Inflation Is Running Hot And Everyone In The Room Knows It

Here is the number Trump does not want you to hear.

August consumer prices jumped 0.4 percent in a single month, quadruple the pace from July.

Core inflation, the Fed's preferred gauge, has been hovering right around 3 percent for months.

Moore put the number at 3.5 percent and explained it in language your neighbor understands better than any Fed economist.

Too many dollars are chasing too few goods, and that is what drives prices through the roof.

Warsh laid the groundwork for this back at Jackson Hole in late August, when he pointed out that 54 percent of the goods and services in the Fed's preferred inflation basket had risen more than 3 percent over the prior year.

A number that lopsided is not a rounding error, it is proof inflation is baked into the economy, and it explains why three Fed officials who lost a vote for a hike back in July finally got their way in September.

Moore still gave credit where he thinks it is due, calling Warsh "incredibly optimistic" about the broader economy and pointing to rising oil prices as the real drag on growth right now.

He said fixing the energy picture could unleash serious economic momentum without another hike ever being needed.

Reagan Learned This Lesson The Hard Way And So Did Volcker

Conservatives have been here before.

Paul Volcker took over the Fed in 1979 with inflation running wild and interest rates eventually pushed into the high teens to choke it out.

It caused real pain, a recession, high unemployment, plenty of political screaming.

It also broke the back of inflation for a generation and set up the boom that Reagan rode into two landslide elections.

Trump wants the political win of cheap money right now, and nobody blames him for that instinct heading toward November.

But Moore, a lifelong supply sider and no friend of tight money for its own sake, is telling Trump's own base that the Fed did the responsible thing this time.

That is not a Democrat talking point.

That is a Reagan era conservative economist choosing sound money over short term politics, and it should carry weight with Trump voters who remember what runaway inflation under Jimmy Carter actually felt like.

Warsh now has the numbers on his side, a unanimous vote behind him, and a track record of calling this hike months in advance at Jackson Hole.

Trump can call the committee clowns all he wants, but he built this committee, and it just told him no to his face.

The real fight now is whether Trump tries to force Warsh's hand again before November or lets a man he chose finish the job of killing inflation the right way.

Sources:

• Fox Business staff, "Stephen Moore: I'd Support Quarter-Point Rate Hike," Breitbart, September 17, 2026.
• Sarah Hansen, "Fed rate decision September 2026: Rates rise to 3.75%-4%," CNBC, September 16, 2026.
• Staff, "The Fed just delivered a unanimous rate hike, the first in three years, and no cuts through 2027," Fortune, September 16, 2026.
• Staff, "Analysis: How Trump could reignite the Fed independence fight after Warsh's rate hike," CNBC, September 16, 2026.
• Staff, "Trump and the Federal Reserve are on a collision course over interest rates," NBC News, 2026.
• Federal Reserve History, "Volcker's Announcement of Anti-Inflation Measures," Federal Reserve History, accessed September 2026.
• Kevin Warsh, "Keynote Remarks at the 2026 Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium," Federal Reserve Board, August 28, 2026.
• Staff, "CPI inflation rose 0.4% in August 2026, annual inflation at 3.4%," Yahoo Finance, September 2026.