by Stephanie Lai and Jennifer A. Dlouhy
President Donald Trump said he has three or four people in mind to succeed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell when his term expires next year.
“I know within three or four people,” Trump said Wednesday during a press conference at The Hague, where he is attending the NATO summit. “I mean he goes out pretty soon, fortunately, because I think he’s terrible.”
Trump did not name his potential replacements for the central banker nor did he lay out a timeline for a decision. Powell’s term as chair ends in May 2026.
The president said earlier this month that he was considering successors for Powell and that they would come out “very soon.”
The dollar weakened against all its major peers in early Asian trade Thursday, with the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index dipping 0.2%. The Wall Street Journal reported Trump is considering accelerating when he’ll announce his pick to succeed Powell.
Some allies of the president have pushed for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to get the job, according to people familiar with the matter, a notion that a senior administration official disputed. Trump has also praised former Fed governor Kevin Warsh as “very highly thought of.”
The US president continued with his pressure campaign on the central bank chief to lower interest rates, saying “he’s a very stupid person” for keeping them at their current level.
Trump has lashed out at the Fed’s position to hold rates steady, arguing for cuts and saying the central bank is keeping borrowing costs for the US government high.
The president has called on Powell to lower rates by 2.5 points. The Fed last week decided to leave rates unchanged in the range of 4.25%-4.5%, where they’ve held since the beginning of the year. Most policymakers signaled they expect to lower rates by a half percentage point by the end of 2025.
Powell has borne the brunt of Trump’s anger, with the president belittling him with the nickname “Too Late” and repeatedly musing about firing him — while other times saying he had no intention of doing so. Trump reiterated that threat again last week in a post on social media before concluding: “regardless, his Term ends shortly!”
Trump’s comments come a day after Powell testified before the House Financial Services Committee, defending the bank’s policies and insisting the Fed should not rush to adjust policy while they wait to see the impact the president’s economic agenda, in particular sweeping tariffs on trading partners, will have on inflation.
The president has regularly altered the specifics of his tariff policies and is working on deals ahead of a July 9 deadline with some trading partners to lower higher duties that are slated to take effect.
Powell is testifying on Wednesday before the Senate Banking Committee.
Copyright Bloomberg News
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