Trump to Announce Federal Reserve Chair Pick Next Week

President Donald Trump revealed that he will announce his choice for chair of the Federal Reserve “sometime next week.” This decision comes as he looks to replace Jerome Powell, the current chairman, with whom Trump has often had disagreements over the last year.

“We are going to be announcing the head of the Fed, who that will be,” Trump mentioned during a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “It will be a person that will, I think, do a good job. We’re paying far too much interest in the Fed. The Fed rate is too high, unacceptably high.”

Among the four finalists Trump has identified are National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, former Federal Reserve Board member Kevin Warsh, BlackRock executive Rick Rieder, and Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller.

Frustrated with Powell, Trump recently criticized him in a Truth Social post. He took issue with Powell’s support for keeping the interest rate at 3.5%-3.75% after a 10-2 vote, arguing that this decision negatively affected the country’s national security.

“Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell again refused to cut interest rates, even though he has absolutely no reason to keep them so high,” Trump wrote. “He is hurting our Country, and its National Security. We should have a substantially lower rate now that even this moron admits inflation is no longer a problem or threat. He is costing America hundreds of billions of dollars a year in totally unnecessary and uncalled for INTEREST EXPENSE.”

Powell’s term is set to end in May, but he will remain as a board member until 2028. Trump appointed Powell as the chairman of the seven-member board in 2017, and he was later nominated for a second term by former President Joe Biden, with Congress confirming him in 2022.

In Trump’s first year back in office, he has repeatedly criticized Powell’s approach to interest rates, hinting at a desire for a new Federal Reserve chairman who aligns more with his economic vision.