Trump sees Fed Chair pick 'early next year,' praises Hassett

Josh Wingrove and Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Bloomberg News on Dec 2, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

President Donald Trump said he plans to announce his selection to lead the Federal Reserve in early 2026 and teased National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett as his possible choice on Tuesday, fueling further speculation about the next leader of the U.S. central bank.

“We’ll 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 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.”

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 Fed Chair expires in May, would give the president his biggest chance yet to reshape the institution. Trump has criticized Powell as being too slow and timid in pursuing cuts, and the president has signaled he expects his replacement to move more forcefully to lower rates.

Trump repeated those criticisms Tuesday, calling Powell a “stubborn ox, who probably doesn’t like your president.” Though Powell’s term as chair ends next year, he could remain on the board for two more years as a governor.

Trump in September singled out Hassett, Warsh and Waller as his top three candidates. Trump also regularly says he’d like Bessent as 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 criticizing 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 chair. If the selection is an outsider, the person would likely receive a 14-year Fed governor term that begins Feb. 1.

____

(With assistance from Laura Davison.)