WASHINGTON (AP) – President Donald Trump publicly reiterated his desire Wednesday to appoint Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as the next chair of the Federal Reserve, despite BessentS repeated disinterest in the position.
“We’re thinking about him for the Fed, but he wants no part of it, he likes being secretary of the Treasury,” Trump said at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum. “I think we’ll leave him – so let’s cross your name off right, officially, right?”
Trump has been critical of current Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May, for the pace of interest rate cuts. A Trump-appointed Fed chair would likely pursue faster rate reductions and notable operational changes at the central bank. Bessent previously published criticisms of the Fed’s responses to the 2008-2009 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bessent is currently leading the Trump administration’s search for a new Fed chair, yet remains a leading potential candidate himself. Stephen Moore, a former senior economic advisor to Trump, stated, ”he’s a top-tier candidate right now,” adding that Trump “wants to shake things up, so I think he wants an outsider.”
bessent is considering five candidates for the role: current Fed Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, along with Kevin Hassett, a top White House economic official; Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor and vocal critic of the central bank; and rick rieder, a senior managing director at BlackRock.
In a Fox News interview Tuesday with Bret Baier, Bessent said the administration expects to present Trump with three finalists by mid-December, with a decision anticipated before Christmas.
