Who will replace Jerome Powell as next Fed chair? Donald Trump says ‘I think I already know my choice’

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that he thinks he already knows his choice for the next Federal Reserve chair, who would replace Jerome Powell.

Trump made the remarks while responding to a question during an Oval Office appearance with visiting Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MSB).

“I think I already know my choice. We are talking to various people,” Trump said, without specifying details.

Criticising Powell for not lowering interest rates faster, Trump stated, "Frankly, I would love to get the guy currently in there out right now, but people are holding me back. He has done a terrible job."

He added that they have some surprising names and we have some standard names that everybody's talking about. “We may go the standard way. It's nice to, every once in a while, go politically correct. But we have some great names.”

In October, at a dinner in Tokyo, Trump told business leaders that they have an incompetent head of the Fed, but he'll be out of there in a few months, and they will get somebody new.

The Republican president also stated that he had wanted Scott Bessent to take over the US central bank but that his Treasury chief declined. On Tuesday, he again reiterated that Scott Bessent did not want the job.

Last month, Bessent told reporters there were five finalists — White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, current Fed Governor Christopher Waller, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and BlackRock executive Rick Rieder.

He said he will present the top candidates to Trump in December.

Powell's term ends in May.

Meanwhile, a divided US Federal Reserve begins receiving updated economic reports from the now-reopened federal government this, reported Reuters.

It remains unclear how much of the shutdown-delayed data on employment, inflation, retail spending, economic growth, and other aspects of the economy will be in hand by then, said reports.

Clear camps have formed within the central bank, with several Fed governors - all appointees of President Donald Trump - arguing for another cut, and several regional reserve bank presidents taking a hard line on inflation. Still, the intensity of those divisions may mask a narrower set of concerns about timing and the desire for more data to show a clearer direction for the economy.