(Dec 3): US President Donald Trump said he plans to announce his selection to lead the Federal Reserve (Fed) in early 2026 and teased National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett as his possible choice on Tuesday, fuelling further speculation about the next leader of the US central bank.
“We will be announcing somebody, probably early next year, for the new chairman of the Fed,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting at the White House.
Hassett is seen as the likely choice to succeed Powell, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News last week, and Trump nodded to that position at a separate event shortly after the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
“I guess a potential Fed chair is here too,” Trump said. “I don’t know who is allowed to say that — potential. He’s a respected person that I can tell you. Thank you, Kevin.”
Trump’s comments offer a clearer timeline for the announcement. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has been overseeing the selection process, previously said the pick could be revealed around Christmas.
The president said on Tuesday he considered around 10 candidates for the position, in consultation with Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, but now “we have it down to one”.
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Still, Trump is known to make surprise personnel and policy decisions, meaning a nomination is not final until it’s made public. Other finalists have included Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, former Fed governor Kevin Warsh and BlackRock’s Rick Rieder.
Trump for months has pressured the Fed to lower interest rates, and naming a successor to Jerome Powell, whose term as the Fed chair expires in May, would give the president his biggest chance yet to reshape the institution. Trump has criticised Powell as being too slow and timid in pursuing cuts, and the president has signalled he expects his replacement to move more forcefully to lower rates.
Trump repeated those criticisms on Tuesday, calling Powell a “stubborn ox, who probably doesn’t like your president”. Though Powell’s term as the chair ends next year, he could remain on the board for two more years as a governor.
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Trump in September singled out Hassett, Warsh and Waller as his top three candidates. Trump also regularly says he would like Bessent as the chair, though the Treasury secretary has repeatedly rejected the notion.
Fed chair and governor picks typically represent the most direct way for presidents to influence the central bank. But Trump has been vocal in criticising the Fed for moving too slowly to cut borrowing costs and for expensive renovations of its campus. The White House also is engaged in litigation over Trump’s attempted dismissal of Fed governor Lisa Cook.
Whomever Trump picks will require Senate confirmation as the Fed chair. If the selection is an outsider, the person would likely receive a 14-year Fed governor term that begins on Feb 1.
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