Trump jokes about suing his Federal Reserve nominee Warsh at elite Washington dinner
By Kristen Holmes, Alejandra Jaramillo, CNN
(CNN) — President Donald Trump joked that he might sue his newly selected Federal Reserve chair nominee, Kevin Warsh, over lowering interest rates in a speech to an elite group of Washington’s power set on Saturday night, according to a person who attended the dinner.
The speech, delivered to an audience that included a bipartisan mix of political leaders, senior military officials, diplomats and business executives, ran for over an hour, according to the person, who added that Trump made several quips that came off as mean and did not always seem to have the room on his side.
Trump told reporters afterward on Air Force One that it was a “roast,” and that he expected his nominee, who is a former Fed governor, would lower interest rates.
It marked Trump’s first appearance as president at the annual and exclusive Alfalfa Club dinner, which took place at the Capital Hilton hotel Saturday night.
At one point, the person who attended the dinner said, Trump appeared to make a joke about former Utah Sen. Mitt Romney and invited him to stand up. But after the crowd applauded Romney loudly, Trump said he couldn’t joke about Romney in a room of people so fond of him.
The president also called his wife Melania a “movie star” after her documentary film was released last week, and said he asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop bombing Ukraine due to the cold, which he has previously said.
According to a seating chart obtained by CNN, Trump sat at the head table near his chief of staff, Susie Wiles; Interior Secretary Doug Burgum; CIA Director John Ratcliffe; Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller; New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte; UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba; former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy; and World Economic Forum President Borge Brende among others.
Former President George W Bush; Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Elena Kagan; Sen. Mitch McConnell; Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser; Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard; and several other Cabinet members and foreign ambassadors were also expected to be in attendance, according to the seating chart.
Trump’s joke about Warsh comes as the president has repeatedly pressured the current chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, to lower interest rates, including by calling him a “numbskull,” “moron” and “jerk” for not lowering them more quickly. Powell was also expected to attend the dinner in Washington, DC.
The president announced Friday that he was nominating Warsh to be the next Federal Reserve chair, capping a search that began in September for Powell’s replacement.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who has met with Trump at the White House multiple times, was also expected to attend the dinner.
The guest list underscored the Alfalfa Club’s reputation of blending figures from across party lines and ideological divides, including both allies of the president and prominent officials who have at times been openly critical of him.
The president, who typically leaves Washington for Florida on Fridays, departed for his Mar-a-Lago residence after the dinner on Saturday night.
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