US President Donald Trump speaks in the Oval Office of the White House on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Samuel Corum | Getty Images
President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will nominate a candidate for a new Federal Reserve chairman on Friday.
Speaking at the premiere of “Melania,” a movie about first lady Trump, the president said the process of choosing a candidate to replace current Chairman Jerome Powell, which began last summer, is coming to an end.
President Trump said, “I will announce the Fed chairman tomorrow morning.” When asked if he had actually made a choice, he replied: “Yes, that’s better, otherwise I have to rush to work.”
The process to find Mr. Powell’s successor began in September, with a field of 11 candidates including past and present Fed officials, economists and Wall Street investment experts. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent screened eligible candidates, reducing the list to five and then four.
The final four are believed to be former Federal Reserve President Kevin Warsh, National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, current Federal Reserve President Christopher Waller, and Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer for fixed income.
Prediction markets are betting on who will get the job. Hassett was the leader for a while, then Warsh, and for the past few days, Reeder has been the leader. But that all changed on Thursday night, with Calci now giving Warsh an outrageous 80% favorite to win.
Trump added that the nominee is “someone who could have been there years ago.” Warsh is known to have participated in President Trump’s presidential campaign in 2017, when he nominated Powell.
A government official told CNBC that Warsh was at the White House on Thursday. However, White House officials denied the speculation.
White House Press Secretary Khush Desai said: “President Trump will announce his selection for Fed Chair at the appropriate time. Until then, any reporting on the Fed Chair nomination process is a waste of everyone’s time.”
Mr. Powell, for his part, balked at questions about whether he would stay on after his term as chairman ends in May. Powell has the option to serve out the remaining two years of his term as governor.
