Trump backs Kevin Hassett as next Federal Reserve chair after Powell

Donald Trump on Tuesday openly pointed to Kevin Hassett as his choice to run the Fed after Jerome Powell leaves in 2026, cutting straight to the chase during a White House event attended by Kevin himself.

If you play the video below, you’ll see Trump introduce the guest list and then said, “It’s a great group, and I guess a potential Fed chair is here too.” The president then paused and added, “I don’t know, are we allowed to say that, potential? He’s a respected person that I can tell you. Thank you, Kevin.”

The exchange landed directly in front of traders focused on rates, inflation, and liquidity. Powell’s term as Fed chair runs through May 2026. Trump is already shaping that outcome, according to the Wall Street Journal coverage tied to this process.

Earlier the same day, Trump had already tipped his hand during a Cabinet meeting. He said his official choice for the next Fed chair would likely come early next year. He also revealed the size of the search. Trump said the list started with ten names and is now down to one. Kevin is that last name.

Kevin holds a PhD in economics and currently runs the National Economic Council, the White House body that advises the president and the Cabinet on policy. He appears often on television pushing Trump’s economic agenda.

During Trump’s first term, Kevin chaired the Council of Economic Advisers, a post focused on analysis and forecasts. This time, the job would carry direct control over interest rates.

Trump cuts interviews and breaks the Fed search plan

Kevin’s sudden rise into public view cut through a tightly built interview plan. Candidates were told that meetings scheduled for Wednesday with Vice President JD Vance were canceled. No public reason was first given.

Then the Wall Street Journal later said it was due to a scheduling conflict for JD and added it was not clear if the interviews would be reset. Behind that move, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had already narrowed an original group of eleven candidates down to five. Trump’s advisers had planned more interviews this week so they could present a slate of finalists. Trump’s comment that the list was already down to one undercut that entire process.

The White House followed with a statement: “The truth is nobody knows who President Trump’s next pick for the Fed Chair will be until he makes the announcement himself. Everything until then is pure speculation.”

Trump has spent months talking with aides and allies about who should replace Powell. He has asked people directly who they think should take the job. He has also told several of those same people that he regrets choosing Powell in the first place. Trump has blamed former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for convincing him to name Powell as Fed chair.

People familiar with the process allegedly said Trump could still change course on Kevin, but said that outcome is unlikely without pressure from Scott, who has resisted repeated appeals from Trump to take the role himself. For Scott, pushing one name carries heavy risk if Trump later turns on that choice.

Markets track pressure and politics around the Fed job

The next Fed chair will inherit a rate committee split between fears of job losses and fears of persistent inflation. Trump continues to press the central bank for lower borrowing costs. Kevin has sided with Trump in calling for more rate cuts this year, though he has not aimed personal attacks at Powell the way Trump has.

Any nomination will land in a Republican‑controlled Senate, where Kevin would still need to answer for his ties to Trump while promising to protect the independence of the central bank. Investors will watch whether that pledge holds under political pressure tied directly to the White House.

Kevin has already written about what happens when Trump turns on past economic picks. In a 2021 book, Kevin described what followed Steven’s role in backing Powell for the Fed job. Kevin wrote that once Powell took the seat, Steven absorbed criticism from Trump at the start of nearly every meeting.

Kevin wrote, “I will always remember how graceful Mnuchin was under attack.” That history now hangs over the current process as Trump moves toward naming the person who will control the future path of U.S. interest rates.

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