President Donald Trump said Friday that he wants National Economic Council Secretary Kevin Hassett to remain as his top economic adviser, a comment that could change the dynamics of the race to replace Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chairman.
Appearing at the White House, President Trump said, “I saw you in the audience, Kevin, so I just want to thank you. You were amazing on TV today.”
“If you want to know the truth, I want to keep you there,” he added.
Mr. Hassett is considered the front-runner to take the reins of the central bank, and is in a tight race against former Fed director Kevin Warsh.
Mr. Trump has been a fierce critic of the Fed and has indicated he will replace Powell when his term ends in May. Hassett and Warsh are two of five finalists, a group that also includes current Fed directors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman.
President Trump has indicated he will name a successor to Powell this month, but has not set a specific date.
President Trump turned to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and said, “Susie, we don’t want to lose him (Mr. Hassett), but we’re going to see how everything goes.”
After Trump’s speech, traders at prediction market site Kalsi raised the odds of Mr. Warsh taking office to 60%, compared to just 16% for Mr. Hassett and 14% for Mr. Waller.
As of Wednesday, Warsh and Hassett were in a near dead heat.
“I’m not sure this is a definitive signal, but the president has been sending mixed signals at different times and seems to be enjoying the drama of this Celebrity Apprentice season, but for the first time the former Fed chief looks like the clear front-runner,” said Krishna Guha, head of global policy and central bank strategy at Evercore ISI.
Polymarket traders showed a similar trend, with Warsh leading the way at 60%, Hassett at 15% and Waller at 13%. Traders are giving Mr. Bowman and BlackRock’s head of fixed income Rick Rieder (the other two candidates are considered finalists) little chance.
Disclosure: CNBC and Kalsi have a commercial relationship.
