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Kevin Warsh, left, then serving on the Board of Governors of the the Federal Reserve, and Mark Carney, then-governor of the Bank of Canada, leave for the midmorning break of the annual Federal Reserve conference, in Jackson, Wyo., Aug. 28, 2010. AP Photo/Reed Saxon
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he supports U.S. President Donald Trump’s choice to head the Federal Reserve.
On Jan. 30, Trump announced his nomination of former Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh to succeed current Chair Jerome Powell, whom he has criticized for years.
“Kevin Warsh is a fantastic choice to lead the world’s most important central bank at this crucial time,” Carney wrote on X, reacting to the White House announcement.
Carney’s statement comes during heightened tensions between Ottawa and Washington on the trade front.
The day before Carney’s social media comment, Trump had threatened to slap 50 percent tariffs on Canadian-made aircraft because Canada has yet to certify the newest U.S.-made Gulfstream models.
This follows Trump’s threat of 100 percent tariffs on Canada if it makes an unspecified deal with China, and his criticism of Ottawa’s deal with Beijing to bring in up to 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles at a lowered tariff rate.
Carney has previously interacted with Warsh during his time serving as the governor of the Bank of England from 2013 to 2020.
Carney had hired Warsh in 2014 to conduct an in-depth review of transparency practices at the Bank. Recommendations from Warsh started being implemented shortly after his review was completed.
Warsh’s work for the Bank of England was highlighted by Trump in his social media post announcing the nomination. Warsh is a former Federal Reserve governor who is currently a distinguished visiting fellow in economics at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and also a lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
U.S. Federal Reserve chairs are appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate. Republicans currently hold a Senate majority.
Warsh is set to replace Powell, whose second four-year term expires in May.
Trump had first appointed Powell as chairman during his first term as president, but has often publicly criticized him since, saying the independent Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates too high.
The criticism began during Trump’s first term and has continued, with the president giving him the nickname “Too late Powell,” saying he was not dropping interest rates fast enough.
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged in its Jan. 28 decision, with a range of 3.5 percent to 3.75 percent, stating that inflation “remains somewhat elevated.”
The Bank of Canada also maintained its policy rate of 2.25 percent in its latest announcement this week.
Trump’s nominee Warsh has also been critical of Powell and has advocated for the Fed to lower interest rates.
“The Fed’s track record under Chairman Jerome Powell is one of unwise choices,” Warsh wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed in November 2025.
“Americans would benefit from higher take-home pay and greater purchasing power if only the Federal Reserve’s leadership stopped defending its mistakes and started correcting them,” he wrote.
Tensions surrounding the debate on U.S. interest rates and pressure from the Trump administration increased further this month.
Powell said on Jan. 11 he is being targeted by a Department of Justice investigation pertaining to his testimony at the Senate Banking Committee in June 2025 and the renovation of Federal Reserve buildings.
Trump officials have criticized the renovation project for costing too much. “I’ve been calling for the Fed to do an internal investigation on numerous things since last spring, and they’ve chosen not to do it,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CBS News on Jan. 28, defending the probe into Powell.
Meanwhile, Powell says the threat of criminal charges is a “consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.”
“This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation,” he said.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Jan. 12 the Federal Reserve was contacted many times to discuss renovation cost overruns and Powell’s testimony but the U.S. Attorney’s Office was “ignored, necessitating the use of legal process—which is not a threat.”
