Sen. Thom Tillis Talks Powell, Foreign Policy

Summary

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Bloomberg Talks: Sen. Thom Tillis Talks Powell, Foreign Policy

Date: January 14, 2026
Host: Jeff (Bloomberg)
Guest: Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), Senate Banking Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee

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Episode Overview

This episode features Senator Thom Tillis in a wide-ranging conversation covering U.S. foreign policy tensions, congressional oversight, and the independence of the Federal Reserve. Senator Tillis addresses the administration's stances on Iran, the U.S.-Greenland controversy, Venezuela, and explosive developments involving Fed Chair Jay Powell, openly critiquing some White House advisors and elaborating on his own approach to advising President Trump.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. U.S.-Iran Relations and Military Tensions

• Violence Has Stopped?
  • The President claimed that violence and executions in Iran have ceased.
  • Tillis expresses skepticism:

    "This is a murderous regime that never stops killing. It's just a matter of how many, not whether or not they're pursuing it. So I'm very skeptical that something overnight could have actually occurred." (00:56)

• Skepticism on Overnight Change:
  • Tillis questions whether the situation could have changed so quickly, stressing the need for credible sources.

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2. The Greenland Controversy and U.S. Foreign Policy

• Presidential Advice & Greenland Negotiations
  • Tillis is critical of the advice given to President Trump on Greenland:

    "We need people to make sure the president has a fully weighted set of criteria before he moves forward on some of these policies. I see no path where his aspiration for Greenland occurs unless it's a negotiation and something far short of what he has in mind." (01:34)

• Reassuring NATO Allies:
  • Addressing the fears stoked by one of the President’s advisers regarding U.S. intentions to annex Greenland:

    "An illegal taking of another territory and from a sovereign nation and a member of NATO, it's just not good advice. I’m going there to tell them there’s at least one branch of government that stands with the NATO alliance... Of course, we need to project power in the Arctic... Let's get there in a faster, more sustainable, less acrimonious way that strengthens the nation alliance, not putting it into question." (02:25–03:58)

• On Military Action:
  • Tillis offers a clear warning against unilateral military action:

    "If there is military action against Greenland, I will be one of the first people to file and co-sponsor a War Powers Resolution. It will pass." (04:19)

• Alliances Over Acquisition:
  • He outlines practical alternatives for U.S. interests in Greenland:

    "We could be there with an ally projecting power in a contested part of the world. And that's what I mean. It would cost us less money, it would produce less tumult and give us the same sort of capability. What is not to like about that plan?" (05:12)

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3. Venezuela & War Powers

• Precision Operations vs. ‘War Powers’ Showdowns:
  • On the recent capture of Maduro:

    "I am thrilled with the precision and the exquisite execution of what it took to get Maduro and his wife into custody and now have to defend themselves in a court of law." (06:50)

  • Differentiates between the Greenland and Venezuela situations:

    "To me, it's a war powers resolution flexing a message that I don't agree with in the same week that I'm happy with what they did... In the future if boots go on the ground, of course we're going to have to have a war powers resolution." (06:33; 07:35)

  • Emphasizes the need for strategy:

    "If we really want Venezuela to be successful, we've got to have a long-term plan that goes far beyond this President so they can achieve what their real potential is in Venezuela." (07:36)

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4. Federal Reserve Independence and the Jay Powell Controversy

• Prosecution Threat Against Powell:
  • Tillis is leading opposition against an idea floated about prosecuting Fed Chairman Jay Powell, calling it a dangerous precedent:

    "If suddenly threat of a lawsuit can take a chair out of play, how can anybody think that's anything more than a de facto ending the independence of the Fed? And we all know what that does to markets worldwide." (09:01)

• Blocking White House Nominees:
  • He vows to block appointments:

    "To be clear, I will block any effort to name any member of the Fed board until this matter is resolved." (09:36)

  • Resolution means withdrawal of charges or closing the case:

    "Withdrawn or it's either got to be fully adjudicated or they don't move forward with an indictment and they close the case and they explain reasons why..." (09:47)

  • Foresees market chaos if independence is undermined; characterizes the issue as bipartisan concern:

    "Look at former treasury secretaries. This is a bipartisan concern." (10:40)

• Powell’s Future:
  • Discusses possibility Powell might stay on as a regular governor until 2028.
  • Suggests Powell is likely to step down from the chairmanship after the matter is resolved.

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5. Senator Tillis on His Role:

• Media Framing as a Check on Trump:
  • Tillis bristles at the media portrayal:

    "No, I don't...I am trying to...be a much better advisor to the President and disintermediate any, any thought in the press that when I agree with him...I'm only doing it because I'm afraid of my reelection prospects." (11:26–11:46)

• Relationship with President Trump:
  • Claims open, direct conversations and independence:

    "I care about how this president is remembered in history because a successful Republican president, in my opinion, is a successful nation." (12:18)

• On the President’s Advisors:
  • Suggests some are offering poor advice but notes many are competent:

    "Some people are giving the president advice is problematic and it's my job to speak truth and hopefully we'll maintain a good relationship. That's entirely up to the President." (12:54)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Iranian Regime Change Claims:

  "I'm very skeptical that something overnight could have actually occurred. To have, to have gotten from thousands to zero just doesn't make sense to me." — Sen. Tillis (00:56)

• On U.S. Stance Toward Greenland:

  "An illegal taking of another territory...from a sovereign nation and a member of NATO, it's just not good advice. And I'm going there to tell them there’s at least one branch of government that stands with the NATO alliance." — Sen. Tillis (03:13)

• On Threats to Fed Independence:

  "If suddenly threat of a lawsuit can take a chair out of play, how can anybody think that that's anything more than a de facto ending the independence of the Fed? And we all know what that does to markets worldwide." — Sen. Tillis (09:01)

• On Blocking Fed Nominations:

  "I will block any effort to name any member of the Fed board until this matter is resolved." — Sen. Tillis (09:36)

• On His Independent Role:

  "I felt like I could be a much better resource to the President to check against some of the amateurish policies that he is pursuing by being completely independent to call balls and strikes...I care about how this president is remembered in history because a successful Republican president, in my opinion, is a successful nation." — Sen. Tillis (11:46–12:18)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:56 — Tillis on skepticism over Iran violence claims
• 01:34 — On presidential advisers giving poor advice (Greenland)
• 02:25–03:58 — U.S.-Greenland Policy; NATO alliance reassurance
• 04:19 — Will file War Powers Resolution if U.S. military acts against Greenland
• 06:33; 07:35 — Differentiating Venezuela and Greenland intervention logic
• 09:01 — Why prosecuting Powell threatens Fed independence
• 09:36 — Blocking Fed board nominations until issue resolved
• 10:40 — Bipartisan concern regarding Fed independence
• 11:46–12:54 — On his independence as an advisor, not just “checking Trump”

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Conclusion

Senator Thom Tillis emerges in this episode as a forceful voice for congressional oversight and institutional integrity, drawing clear distinctions between legitimate executive authority and overreach on both foreign and fiscal policy. He criticizes "bad advice" given to President Trump, stands firmly against military adventurism or illegal land acquisition, and advocates for a strictly independent Federal Reserve. Throughout, he positions himself as an independent, pragmatic Republican—committed to supporting the president where possible but vocal and explicit in his opposition when core principles or U.S. alliances are threatened.

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Transcript

[Michael McDermott]

At CES. Michael McDermott, EVP of Samsung, spoke with Bloomberg Media Studios about what the company calls its next AI Chapter, your companion to AI Living.

[Samsung AI Executive]

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[Jeff (Interviewer)]

We begin live on Capitol Hill on a very busy day here once again in Washington. Tensions escalating with Iran, a power struggle over control of Greenland, and of course, questions this week about the independence of the Federal Reserve. We tackle it all now with a special guest. Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina is with us. He serves on both the Senate Banking Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee. And Senator, it's great to see you. Thanks for being back on Bloomberg TV and radio. You're the man of the hour, which is why we came up to Capitol Hill to talk to you. And I'm going to start with Iran on this parade of issues that we have to discuss here. The president saying earlier today that the violence has stopped. The killing has stopped, he said, and the executions have been canceled. Is any potential strike canceled as well?

[Senator Thom Tillis]

Look, if he's, if he's heard that from sources on the ground, I'd have to, I'd have to see the sources. But this is a murderous regime that never stops killing. It's just a matter of how many, not whether or not they're pursuing it. So I'm very skeptical that something overnight could have actually occurred. To have, to have gotten from thousands to zero just doesn't make sense to me.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Pretty remarkable. You had a speech on the floor of the Senate the other day in which you said that you are sick of stupid, made a headline in the Washington Post, and you were talking in that speech about the people around the president, not Donald Trump himself. Is he getting bad advice?

[Senator Thom Tillis]

I think the president is. I've enjoyed a good relationship with the president. It's probably different from other members. I'm very direct. Look, I spent 20 years in top tier management consulting. I spent 20 years in legislative politics. I like to think that I can help look around corners. Yeah, I see advice here that's not taking care of the president's best interest. The Greenland position is a good example. We need people to make sure the president has a fully weighted set of criteria before he moves forward on some of these policies. I see no path where his aspiration for Greenland occurs unless it's a negotiation and something far short of what he has in mind.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

We talked to Senator Chris Coons at this time last evening, who I know is taking part in a bipartisan codel to Denmark with you and others. He was strident in his language, making it clear that Naito is at stake. Is that where we are?

[Senator Thom Tillis]

No. You know, I think we're going to get into a little bit of a hyperbolic language here. Chris is a friend of mine. He's a Democrat. I could see where he may take that position. But I've been the Republican leader of the Senate NATO observer group since 2018. Yes. I'm going there to reassure everyone that unlike what angered me last week was one of the President's advisers making the statement that it was the position of the US Government that Greenland would become a part of the United States. He doesn't have an election certificate. He is not a member of the Article one branch. I am. It can be his position. It can currently be the position of the President. But the people, the people in Denmark, the NATO countries, our allies, our partners, the people who have gone to war with us, fought side by side with us, lost lives when they came to Afghanistan and consistent with their Article 5 commitment in NATO. I want to make them very aware of the fact that there is not support for this in Congress, regardless of what they may say in the White House. I think that an illegal taking of another territory and from a sovereign nation and a member of NATO, it's just not good advice. And I'm going there to tell them there's at least one branch of government that stands with the NATO alliance. It's still wanting to achieve the President's goals. Of course, we need to project power in the Arctic. Of course, we need to counter the first ever joint military exercises with China and Russia in the Arctic. Let's get there in a faster, more sustainable, less acrimonious way that strengthens the nation alliance, not putting it into question.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

We've heard a lot of justifications for this idea was critical minerals, it was strategic importance, the fact that it was a neighbor. Today the President says we need Greenland to build the Golden Dome. Would you be able to assure officials in Copenhagen that there will be no military action against Greenland?

[Senator Thom Tillis]

If there is military action against Greenland, I will be one of the first people to file and co sponsor War Powers Resolution. It will pass.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

That is what I'm trying to communicate to the President. We want to help him. I support the vast majorities of the President's policies having the past well in the future. But we have to speak truth to power when the single most important alliance in the history of the democratic world is put into question. And it shouldn't be. So if you know, I Understand with the meeting with the foreign ministers that they came away frustrated and that Vice President Vance may have taken a different position. I just respectfully disagree. Just to be clear, this is not the way you strengthen alliances that are vitally important for the safety and security of this world.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Understood. To be clear, the existing arrangement that we have with Denmark and with Greenland would allow us to position.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

That's. That's golden dome elements. You know, as a fiscal conservative, think about this. We don't have to pay whatever we have to pay or go to the expense of whatever it would take to take this country and then have it discount it. With all the loss of alliances at our height, we had as many as 17 military installations there. There's no question that Denmark and that Greenland would like to have American technology to potentially fully realize the rare earth minerals potential they have there. There's no doubt that the infrastructure that at one point allowed as many as 17 military bases could be modernized and we could be there with an ally projecting power in a contested part of the world. And that's what I mean. It would cost us less money, it would produce less tumult and give us the same sort of capability. What is not to like about that plan? The question I have is did anyone actually tell the President that all that was possible and it was possible not because of some future planning, but because it's been that way in the past?

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Right. Yes. All of that said, we've also got something cooking in Venezuela.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

Oh, yeah.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Should there be a war powers?

[Senator Thom Tillis]

No, I see. That's a. I think that by voting for the war powers resolution that. Senator Kaine. Look, it's a messaging exercise, right?

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

How are they different?

[Senator Thom Tillis]

Let me. Well, I'll explain. Number one, it's a messaging exercise. Does anybody really believe that this president wouldn't veto it and it is subject to veto authority?

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Sure.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

There's also a question as to whether or not the House would even. Whether it would be successful in the House. So at the end of the day, it's a messaging exercise.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

They have their own more powers in the House.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

I know, but I thought it sends a message that I didn't support that I would not be supporting what the President did in Venezuela. I am thrilled with the precision and the exquisite execution of what it took to get Maduro and his wife into custody and now have to defend themselves in a court of law. I don't want anyone to think that I'm the least bit concerned with the execution of that. I also know that there are no boots on the Ground. And so to me, it's a war powers resolution flexing a message that I don't agree with in the same week that I'm happy with what they did in the future. If boots go on the ground, of course we're going to have to have a war powers resolution.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

That's the line for you.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

Yeah, yeah, we're going to need all that because at some point, if we really want Venezuela to be successful, we've got to have a long term plan that goes far beyond this President so they can achieve what their real potential is in Venezuela.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

And it's enormous if we're Talking about a 10 year build out, that's for sure.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

I worked in Venezuela around the turn of the century and I've always said they are one of the most extraordinary. They're, they're their natural resources, their geographic positioning. They could be the envy of the Western hemisphere if we help them. And I think that's what the President wants to do.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Interesting. I have to ask you about what's going on with the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. This is put you on the content rich week. I should say so when it's only Wednesday. Senator, you've been on front pages all over the country as essentially the face of opposition to this idea, at least from the Republican side of the aisle. President Trump says he didn't know it was coming. The idea of Jay Powell in an orange jumpsuit has upset a lot of people up here on Capitol Hill. Is that where this is going?

[Senator Thom Tillis]

Yeah. Look, I think, you know, I probably leaned in more heavily than other people, but everybody should look at the statements made by House and Senate members about their concern. The President said he wasn't aware of it. I wasn't either when I, when I, when I saw something like that, I thought we had to move very quickly again to make sure that the markets, I think the markets could have reacted very differently this week if everybody thought that the independence of the Fed was about to be shredded.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Market didn't take it that seriously.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

I think that the market saw statements from members of Congress and others who are saying, look, you want to go through this process, it's remarkable to me that someone in the DOJ would move without the President's knowledge, but apparently they did. But look, if suddenly threat of a lawsuit can take a chair out of play, how can anybody think that that's anything more than a de facto ending the independence of the Fed? And we all know what that does to markets worldwide.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

You said that you would block president's efforts to Name a new chair until this matter is resolved. How do we define no?

[Senator Thom Tillis]

Actually, to be clear, I will block any effort to name any member of the Fed boys until this matter is resolved.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

How do we find resolve with charges.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

Withdrawn or it's either got to be fully adjudic or they don't move forward with an indictment and they close the case and they explain reasons why it'll take as long as they've chosen to take. I didn't put them here. They put them here.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Yes.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

And I think that why. Because to me, to move on would almost validate that this is a way that you can actually get the Fed under heel. I mean, that's why I'm not trying to be cantankerous again, I support this president. But in this case, how can anybody logically say, well, we'll move on from Chair Powell and not think that that becomes a device for, for influence over the board.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

So to me, it was just something that we had to do fairly quickly because I was mindful of how the markets could react and I was very pleased to see a fair number of Republicans on both sides of capital.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Yeah. As I mentioned, this has upset a number of people up here. The markets are many more.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

Look at former treasury secretaries. Look at, I mean, this is a bipartisan concern. I'm not going to speak for him, but he didn't appear to, to, he.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Did not appear to be. So could we end up in a world where Jay Powell says, you know what, I'm not going anywhere and he's on the board till 28?

[Senator Thom Tillis]

He could be. But, you know, I think that everything that I've heard from Chair Powell is that he was stepping down from the chairman's role and he may or may not serve out his entire term.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Yes.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

But with this sort of a flex from some person in the, in the D.C. district, I know how I would react to it. And we'll just have to see how Mr. Powell does after the, the underlying matters adjudicated.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

We just walked through three big buckets here.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

Yeah.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Do you like the way you're being framed in the media as the check on Trump, the Republican?

[Senator Thom Tillis]

No, I don't say. No, I don't.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

You said you've never had an argue with an argument with him.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

President Trump. And I'm going to throw this phone over here because somebody's trying to call me and I'm tired of.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

I think he's tired.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

It's probably a friend of mine because I do for you. I play tricks on them. I call them During Yalls interviews. I did it McHenry the other day.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Thank you.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

So maybe he's going to be back. But anyway, so, you know, look, I am trying to. When I decided to retire, I felt like I could be a much better advisor to the President and disintermediate any, any thought in the press that when I agree with him, which is the majority of the time, I'm only doing it because I'm afraid of my reelection prospects. To me, I felt like I could be a much better resource to the President to check against some of the amateurish policies that he is pursuing by being completely independent to call balls and strikes. It's why we put in the statement what we did. I am here to make sure that this president has a strong legacy. There are people working for him who couldn't care less about the legacy. They care about the moment and the transaction. I care about how this president is remembered in history because a successful Republican president, in my opinion, is a successful nation.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

So you think you're surrounded by the wrong people?

[Senator Thom Tillis]

No. Having said that, he's got some good people there. I'm going to go through a list because I've decided, I've talked to him individually. Going through a list, I'm saying the majority of you guys are good stuff.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

But some people are giving the president advice is problematic and it's my job to speak truth and hopefully we'll maintain a good relationship. That's entirely up to the President.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

Well, we appreciate your candor very much and I always enjoy the time that you're spending some time with us this evening on Capitol Hill. Senator.

[Senator Thom Tillis]

Thank you, Jeff.

[Jeff (Interviewer)]

That's of course, Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

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