On Wednesday, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, who is a candidate to succeed Jerome Powell next year, said he would “absolutely” defend the central bank’s independence if challenged by a U.S. president.

Waller, who will speak with President Donald Trump about replacing Powell next May, said the president and Fed chief can discuss their opinions without harming the central bank’s function.

Trump “makes himself very clear on Truth Social” about his monetary policy goals, and “I don’t think there’s any confusion about it,” Waller said at the Yale School of Management CEO Summit in New York.

Waller said Fed chiefs and presidents should communicate directly only occasionally. Waller said Fed chiefs have coordinated with presidents in crises, so a closer relationship is usually unnecessary.

“The Fed chair and the secretary of the Treasury have breakfast every two weeks,” Waller said, “that’s a normal chain of communication where information can be passed from the White House to the chair about what the administration’s needs are.”

Waller said he’d protect the central bank’s independence from a president who questioned it “absolutely.”