US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview on Monday that he has "great confidence" in Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh, even after the central bank raised interest rates by 25 basis points last week against President Trump's wishes. "I have great confidence in Chair Warsh," Bessent stated. "More importantly, the President has great confidence in him as well; we are sure he will take the right steps to balance the twin goals of controlling inflation and promoting growth."

The 12-member Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which includes Warsh, voted unanimously last week to raise the benchmark interest rate to a range of 3.75% to 4%. Following the FOMC vote, Warsh attributed the decision to persistent inflation, which has remained above the Fed's 2% target for more than five consecutive years. "It is clear that inflation is too high and has been for too long. This summer's inflation data did not show a significant improvement in the underlying trend," Warsh told reporters on September 16.

During Monday's interview, when asked whether he agreed with the Fed's rate hike decision, Bessent declined to comment. However, the Treasury Secretary pointed out that core inflation, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, has been on a "very stable" trajectory. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), core inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), has remained below 3% since last November, coming in at 2.4% last month. The data also showed that headline inflation, which includes energy and food prices, peaked at 4.2% in May—a three-year high—before easing to 3.4% last month.

Following the Fed's rate hike, President Trump directed his criticism at the Federal Open Market Committee rather than at Warsh, his personally chosen successor to former Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who remains an FOMC member. "I'm counting on Kevin, but he's in a very tough spot with that committee," Trump told reporters in North Carolina last week. Notably, Trump has appointed four of the 12 FOMC members: Warsh, Powell, Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, and Governor Christopher Waller. According to the quarterly economic projections summary released by the FOMC last week, there could be an additional 25 basis point rate hike later this year.