Fed's Waller: Will 'absolutely' emphasize importance of the central bank's independence to Trump
December 17, 2025 • 2m 52s
Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter)
00:00.350
your
canoe
be
meeting
with
the
president
later
today
Christopher Waller (Member)
00:03.630
and
first
word
yeah
it's
what
we've
reported
that
i
want
to
thank
you
for
continuing
to
keep
your
appointment
at
this
for
this
conversation
which
other
people
might
have
otherwise
but
i'd
like
to
say
the
president
called
me
into
a
pre
interview
Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter)
00:16.910
with
chris
but
that's
not
precisely
what
happened
the
president
has
said
that
he
thinks
he
ought
to
have
a
say
in
interest
rates
i
imagine
he
might
say
that
to
you
i
wonder
if
you
might
share
your
response
to
the
president
if
he
says
he
ought
to
have
a
say
in
interest
rates
i
Christopher Waller (Member)
00:33.430
think
the
president
makes
himself
very
clear
on
true
social
what
his
views
on
policy
and
what
they
should
be
i
don't
think
there's
any
confusion
about
it
you
know
it's
it's
the
one
thing
you
want
to
do
i
i
i
think
there
are
other
channels
for
that
kind
of
communication
rather
Christopher Waller (Member)
00:49.070
than
direct
one
on
one
if
there's
something
very
pressing
i
know
in
the
past
fed
chairs
have
talked
to
the
president
at
certain
times
but
in
times
Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter)
00:58.470
of
crisis
in
times
of
terms
of
crisis
and
that
is
when
you
should
have
a
coordinated
response
things
covid
was
clearly
an
example
of
where
you
needed
a
coordinated
fiscal
and
monetary
response
to
the
pandemic
there's
nothing
wrong
that's
not
a
threat
to
central
bank
independence
Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter)
01:12.990
in
any
way
shape
or
form
that
is
actually
needed
for
the
country
when
those
type
of
events
happen
but
you
know
the
fed
chair
and
the
secretary
of
the
treasury
have
breakfast
every
two
weeks
you
know
so
that's
that's
a
normal
chain
of
communication
where
information
be
passed
Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter)
01:29.270
from
the
white
house
to
the
chair
about
what
the
administration
's
views
are
i
think
that's
a
typical
channel
of
communication
that's
well
understood
and
i
don't
think
there's
anything
wrong
with
continuing
with
that
channel
Steve Liesman (Senior Economics Reporter)
01:40.790
will
you
emphasize
to
the
president
the
importance
of
fed
independence
Christopher Waller (Member)
01:44.110
absolutely
i
spent
twenty
years
of
my
life
working
on
central
bank
independence
and
why
it
was
important
there's
no
doubt
i've
got
a
long
paper
trail
of
this
the
one
thing
everybody
always
forgets
the
central
bank
independence
is
there's
another
side
of
it
which
is
Christopher Waller (Member)
01:57.190
accountability
there's
no
institution
in
this
country
that
is
unaccountable
to
the
electorate
now
that's
not
and
that's
people
what
people
often
forget
is
that
we
want
central
bank
independence
to
be
free
of
political
interference
but
we
still
have
to
be
accountable
to
the
Christopher Waller (Member)
02:13.510
american
public
and
we
try
to
do
that
with
the
chair
testimony
to
congress
twice
a
year
after
every
meeting
we
make
a
decision
we
have
a
press
conference
the
chair
goes
out
tries
to
explain
to
everybody
why
we
did
what
we
did
answer
questions
and
it's
all
about
transparency
and
Christopher Waller (Member)
02:30.590
accountability
and
that's
my
own
view
is
that's
the
importance
of
having
the
press
conferences
it's
for
us
to
try
to
explain
to
the
american
public
and
the
markets
why
we
did
what
we've
been
listening
? (Anchor)
02:39.990
to
fed
governor
christopher
waller
live
from
the
yale
CEO
summit
he's
being
interviewed
there
by
our
very
own
steve
liesman
just
a
few
of
the
highlights
from
that
conversation
waller
said
that
the
jobs
market
is
very
soft
he
did
say
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