Trump Says He'll Soon Announce His Pick for Next Fed Chief

The president is keeping the name secret for now.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference in Washington, on Oct. 29, 2025. Madalina Kilroy/The Epoch Times

President Donald Trump said on Jan. 22 that he will soon announce his choice to lead the Federal Reserve after repeatedly criticizing outgoing Fed Chairman Jerome Powell for keeping interest rates too high, and signaling he wants a new central bank chief who will move faster to cut rates.

While speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump declined to name his pick, but said the person was widely known and respected.

“I will be telling you soon,” Trump said when asked who he would choose as the next Fed chair. “I have somebody that I think will be very good, but I’m not going to reveal it.”

Pressed on whether the nominee would come from Wall Street, Trump offered few details while highlighting the candidate’s reputation.

“Somebody that’s very respected, very well known, and will do, I think, a very good job,” he said.

Trump’s comments came a day after he suggested he was narrowing his decision following interviews and discussions with potential candidates.

During an interview with CNBC on Jan. 21, Trump discussed three contenders for the role whom he and his advisers have named publicly: BlackRock chief bond investment manager Rick Rieder, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, and former Fed governor Kevin Warsh.

“I’d say we’re down to three [candidates],“ Trump said. ”And I probably can tell you we’re down to maybe one in my mind.”

He also said he wanted White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett to remain in his current role rather than taking the Fed post.

“I like actually keeping [Hassett] where he is, you want to know the truth. I don’t want to lose him. He’s so good on television,” Trump said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Jan. 20 that Trump’s field of candidates had been narrowed to four. Trump told CNBC that Bessent—who has been mentioned as a possible Fed chair contender—wanted to remain at the Treasury Department.

“He’s fantastic. But Scott only wants to stay where he is,” Trump said.

Trump said Rieder had made a strong impression during his interview.

“Rick is very good. They’re all good. You know, all three are good,” Trump said.

Powell’s four-year term as Fed chair ends in May, though his term as a Fed governor runs through January 2028.

Powell Under Fire

Renewed focus on Trump’s pick to lead the Fed comes amid ongoing pressure on Powell, who has been a frequent target of the president’s criticism for not lowering rates quickly enough.

“We have a terrible chairman right now, Jerome ‘Too late’ Powell,” Trump said in his Jan. 21 speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “He’s always too late, and he’s very late with interest rates, except before the election, he was just fine for the other side.”

Trump has repeatedly said he believes the Federal Reserve is stifling economic growth by being too slow to lower the Fed’s benchmark interest rate, which affects borrowing costs and the flow of credit to the economy. Trump has called for rates as low as 1 percent, telling the gathering in Davos that the United States “should be paying the lowest interest rate of any country in the world.”

In his speech, Trump also made reference to his shortlist of candidates to replace Powell, saying that he believes all three could do a “fantastic job.”

“Problem is, they change once they get the job, they do,” Trump said.

“They said everything I want to hear, and then they get the job, they’re locked in for six years, they get the job, and all of a sudden, ‘Let’s raise rates a little bit.’

“It’s amazing how people change once they have the job. It’s too bad, sort of disloyalty, but they got to do what they think is right.”

Powell and some other central bank officials have defended their interest-rate decisions, saying that price pressures remain elevated and that more time is needed to assess incoming economic data to confirm that inflation is moving toward the Fed’s target of 2 percent.

The Fed’s next policy decisions are approaching as inflation remains sticky. The personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index—the Fed’s preferred gauge—rose 2.8 percent in November from a year earlier, up from 2.7 percent in October, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Jan. 22. Core PCE inflation also edged up to 2.8 percent, with services prices rising 3.4 percent and goods prices up 1.4 percent.

The Fed’s policy-making Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to hold rates steady at its next Jan. 27–28 meeting, with the benchmark federal funds rate currently at 3.5–3.75 percent.