In a CNBC interview Wednesday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, President Donald Trump said he is near the end of his search to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, and hinted that he has his candidate in mind.
The search for Powell’s replacement began in September and at one time included as many as 11 candidates.
“I’d say we’re down to three, but we’re down to two. And I probably can tell you, we’re down to maybe one, in my mind,” Trump said in the interview. Trump declined to name the one.
CNBC noted that the candidate list included past and current Fed officials, economists, and Wall Street investors.
The list had been widely believed to be Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, current Governor Christopher Waller, National Economic Council Chief Kevin Hassett, and BlackRock fixed income head Rick Rieder.
Trump Wants Hassett to Stay Where He is
Trump told CNBC interviewer Joe Kernenin that Rieder, the last to interview, is “impressive” and praised all the candidates.
Recently, Trump said that he preferred Hassett to stay at the NEC, which likely eliminated him from contention.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent led the interview process. In the past, Trump has expressed support for Bessent to take the Fed job, but said Wednesday, “Scott only wants to stay where he is.”
Trump’s statement on the Fed chair is the latest in a series of what CNBC called dramatic twists and turns following a year of unprecedented tumult for the central bank.
Trump, who appointed Powell as chair during his first term, strongly criticized Powell and his colleagues during that first term in office from 2017 to 2021. and he consistently increased pressure in 2025. Powell’s term as chair ends in May.
Trump Has Ramped Up Pressure
That ramp up of pressure included more verbal assaults on policymakers as well as threats to fire Powell and an actual attempt to sack Governor Lisa Cook, a move that was the subject of a Supreme Court hearing earlier Wednesday on presidential authority over the institution, CNBC noted.
With Powell’s removal as chair appears to be a certainty, and the next question is whether he’ll stay on another two years to serve out his remaining term as governor. That would give Powell a continued say over monetary policy and interest rates, and it could act as a bulwark against Trump’s efforts to exert control over Fed decisions.
In the interview, Trump showed some indifference as to what Powell decides.
“We live with the cards you’re dealt,” Trump said. “If that happens, his life won’t be very, very happy, I don’t think, by doing it. I think he wants to get out. He has not done a good job.”
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