WSJ What’s News - Why Trump Keeps Calling Kevin Warsh

Episode Date: August 6, 2026

A.M. Edition for Aug. 6. In a departure from recent precedent, President Trump has called Kevin Warsh repeatedly since he was appointed as Fed chairman, including to seek counsel on how AI and the Iran war are affecting the economy. Plus, airlines are pushing back against federal authorities intensifying immigration enforcement at U.S. airports, including near gates and ticket counters. And the Senate confirms Dr. Erica Schwartz as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after a bipartisan grilling on how she would navigate vaccine policy under Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Luke Vargas hosts. Sign up for the WSJ’s free What’s News newsletter. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

President Trump finds a new economic counselor in the Fed's Kevin Warsh, plus airlines push back against ICE enforcement at airports, and eBay lifts its outlook, boosted by its takeover of secondhand fashion app, Deepop. I had a huge group of interns here this summer, and, you know, I went around and said, you know, how many of you use Deepop? And almost every hand went up. It's Thursday, August 6th. I'm Luke Farmer. for the Wall Street Journal. And here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories, moving your world today. In a break from recent precedent, President Trump has spoken repeatedly with Kevin Warsh, since he was appointed chairman of the Federal Reserve,

with the president calling him in bursts to seek counsel on a range of topics, including the economic effects of AI and the war in Iran. With more on this journal exclusive, I'm joined by Finance Editor. Alex Frankos. And Alex, first off, we should give kudos here to Brian Schwartz, to Philip Wegman and Nick Timmeros for this reporting, which we've linked to in our show notes. We are less than three months into Warsh's tenure here. Situate for us, if you could, where it looks like his relationship with the president is heading relative to past relationships of this sort. Well, it seems off the bat that the president is using Warsh more as a counselor and someone to chat with about the economy than presidents have in the past. Generally, a president, you know,

nominates head of the Fed, and then the head of the Fed goes off and does their thing, and they have very sporadic stage-managed interactions with the president, all to preserve this idea that the Fed is making independent decisions about interest rates and is not influenced by politics. But, of course, Trump is different, and this relationship is different. So it seems as if they're having a much more ongoing discussion about the economy and he's using him as a smart person, you know, to have around to ask questions of about, you know, AI, the war in Iran and things like that. We don't know if there's been discussions about monetary policy. There's been no public indications that they have been. No one on either side has indicated that the White House is putting pressure on war.

Trump calling him up and saying, hey, don't raise rates, but we haven't seen that. We should say, Alex, that notably Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee aren't just taking a way to see approach here. They're pressing Warsh pretty hard lately to disclose more about his interactions with the president. Moving on from any talk about rate policy, it isn't hard, though, to see how Warsh's opinions on things like Iran or artificial intelligence could very much shape the president's thinking. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, the president kind of has a roster of people, a kitchen cabinet, so to speak, not necessarily in the cabinet, people just around the world, world leaders, business leaders, people he just has on speed dial that he calls up and says,

hey, what do you think of this? What do you think of that? And Warsh is one of those people. And Warsh is in that social circle of people who are close to the president. That's where he was before he became Fed chair. So I think it makes sense that he's still on that list. But certainly the Fed will view the world in a different way. The Fed chair is going to look at the Iran war and say, this is causing inflation, this is causing supply chain disruptions. This is how I'm analyzing it. vis-a-vis monetary policy. Same with AI. Kevin Warsh has actually been quite public in saying that he thinks AI is something that's going to depress inflation, at least over the medium term. And so probably does have thoughts. He also has to be thinking about financial stability and looking at markets and

looking at AI go up and down in a very volatile manner. And we'll have a perspective on that that may be relevant. This journal finance editor, Alex, Alex, thanks for stopping by. Thanks, Luke. In another journal exclusive, we're reporting that airlines are pushing back against federal agents who've been using airports as the site of immigration enforcement efforts. That comes as ICE officers have broadened their activity at airports to include arrests at ticket counters and near airport gates and are arresting people not traditionally targeted by the agency. While ICE earlier focused on pursuing immigrants with final deportation orders, it's now targeting those with expired visas, but who have other forms of legal. status pending, such as green cards and asylum applications. In one case last month, we report that an ICE officer tried to board a Southwest Airlines flight in Dallas to make an arrest, only to be rebuffed by the airline. It was one of at least a half dozen similar encounters involving Southwest in

recent weeks, including an arrest in Denver last month that occurred on a jet bridge. Hey, you guys, come help us. Ice is here. Help us. Southwest in a statement said that it follows state and federal law when dealing with law enforcement agencies, and said it ensures that law enforcement provide appropriate documentation before any information about customers is shared. Airline industry officials tell the journal they want clarity on immigration enforcement work in airports, including whether ICE officers can make arrests with administrative warrants signed by their superiors instead of judicial warrants signed by judges, and whether they'll avoid boarding planes to make arrests. The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents attendance at several major airlines,

had previously written to carriers expressing alarm at the ice presence at airports. DHS spokeswoman said the department is, quote, simply enforcing our nation's laws and established policy. After a lengthy review process, the FDA has approved a new flu vaccine developed by Moderna that uses the same mRNA technology used in its COVID-19 shots. The approval came in spite of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s questioning of MRNA technology and HHS's cancellation of a half a billion dollars in MRNA research contracts last year. In a study of more than 40,000 adults, the Moderna vaccine cut the risk of flu by almost 27 percent compared with a standard dose vaccine

and almost 50 percent against flu severe enough to send patients to the hospital. The vaccine could reach pharmacies in time for this fall's flu season, though while, Street isn't expecting it to generate meaningful sales until the 2027-28 season. And the Senate has confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz to lead the CDC, giving the health agency its first full-time director in nearly a year. Schwartz helped to lead the first Trump administration's pandemic response and will now be tasked with leading an agency contending with low morale, budget cuts, and a slate of outbreaks, including cyclosporiasis and a resurgence of measles. During her Senate confirmation process last month, Republican Bill Cassidy and independent Bernie Sanders split over how she'd navigate setting vaccine policy under Kennedy.

CDC needs someone who understands that the way to prevent vaccine preventable diseases is to reassure the public that vaccines are safe and effective. After speaking with Dr. Schwartz again after the hearing, reviewing the transcript and speaking to those who have served with her and know her well, I'm confident that she knows what she is doing and will stand against those who do not. You are more optimistic than I am. So I will be voting against Dr. Schwartz because we need people in this country who are going to stand up, protect the American people. And I don't think you're going to see that right now with Secretary Kennedy in his position. The last full-time CDC director, Susan Menares was ousted last year after leading the agency for less than a month. Manares clashed with Kennedy over vaccine policy and told Congress that she was fired after he asked her to pre-appreciate. vaccine decisions and remove career scientists. Kennedy denied that characterization of events. Coming up, we've got the day's top business news, and our travel columnist will drop by to weigh in

on points maxing your credit card rewards. That's after the break. In markets news, Etsy is planning to cut roughly 12% of its workforce as the e-commerce platform tries to adapt to changing online shopping habits. In a letter to staff, Etsy's CEO said, that the layoffs of more than 200 employees weren't driven by cost-cutting or AI, but rather a need to evolve alongside its customers. The cuts at the Brooklyn-based company come after second-quarter earnings showed growth across the business, as Etsy shed some weight earlier this year by selling its second-hand clothing app depop to eBay for $1.4 billion. And speaking of which, eBay has lifted its full-year outlook after closing that acquisition and reporting record second-quarter revenue.

growth. CEO Jamie Ianoni said the Deepop purchase comes as Gen Ziers look to monetize their closets and as consumers more broadly embrace used clothing. When you look at the U.S. market, we believe that the pre-loved closet, if you will, is even underpenetrated relative to other markets. Earning season is set to roll on today with Constellation Energy, Conoco Phillips and Warner Brothers Discovery reporting this morning, followed by Airbnb, Lyft, Draft Kings, and Cloud Fair after the closing bell. Also in focus will be SpaceX shares as a lockup expires for employees and investors, enabling them to sell a portion of their holdings. And energy investors will be awaiting a potential outcome of talks to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

We report that Iran and Oman, who sit across the straight from one another, were finalizing a draft last night that would give Tehran oversight of ships entering the Persian Gulf, but wouldn't allow it to charge vessels, tolls, or service fees. oil prices are ticking higher in early trading, with analysts at Deutsche Bank saying that markets have largely priced in the possibility of good news. And finally, credit cards with travel parks have proved to be a big win-win for both banks and airlines, with the likes of Delta expecting to rake in some $9 billion this year from American Express. Southwest wants in two, planning to launch a premium card in lounges, which might explain why, you've probably come across a travel credit card pitch or two in the skies or on social media. The best travel credit card hands down. No questions even asked is the Chase Sapphire preferred card. These are the three cards I would recommend for those wanting to get into travel credit cards this year to stop paying for flights.

I've been an American Express gold and platinum card holder since 2022. And when it comes to the platinum card, I do not bat and I when the almost a $900 annual fee comes out of my account. These are the four best travel credit cards that will reimburse you for TSA precheck and global entry. To sort through all of the marketing noise, our travel columnist Don Gilberton shared with us three tips so you don't end up in what she calls the Miles Sci Club. Get it? Number one, are you a frequent flyer? If you only fly a couple times a year, you probably don't want to plunk down a lot of money in annual fees or even an annual fee at all

for a once or twice visit to an airport lounge or a free bag or priority check-in. Number two, if you really are a lounge lover and who isn't, these days. Everybody wants that Instagram post with a picture of a martini or an old fashion, but you need to assess the lounge situation in your home airport and in your frequent destinations. Number three, and this one's important, especially for people just getting into the points in Miles game. Check the minimum spend on some of these credit cards to get that hefty sign-up bonus. You want to make sure you're not just plunking an extra $5,000 on a card simply to get these bonus points because you're going to wipe that out if you don't have enough money to pay off

that card. And that's it for what's news for this Thursday morning. Today's show was produced by Hattie Moyer. Our supervising producer was Daniel Bach, and I'm Luke Vargas for the Wall Street Journal. We will be back tonight with the news show. And until then, thanks for listening.