Trump sets a 15% growth target; Warsh's potential appointment as Fed head may increase pressure.

PANews reported on February 10th that, according to Jinshi, Trump stated that his nominee for Federal Reserve Chair could stimulate economic growth at a rate of 15%. This extremely optimistic target underscores the immense pressure Kevin Warsh will face if appointed. It remains unclear whether Trump was referring to year-over-year growth or some other metric.

The U.S. economy is projected to grow by 2.4% this year, compared to an average annual growth rate of 2.8% over the past fifty years. Since the 1950s, U.S. GDP has grown by more than 15% only a few times, including the third quarter of 2020 when businesses reopened after pandemic shutdowns. These remarks clearly indicate that Trump hopes Warsh, upon his appointment, can inject momentum into the economy to address the historically challenging midterm elections for U.S. presidents. They also foreshadow that Warsh's future work may be a tightrope walk.