Trump slams Fed chair again, eyes replacement in a few months

TOKYO — President Donald Trump on Tuesday said there was a long list of people who could take over the Federal Reserve, slamming current chairman Jerome Powell as the central bank prepared to meet this week.

“We have an incompetent head of the Fed. … We got a bad Fed guy, but he’ll be out of there in a few months, and we’ll get somebody new,” Trump told business leaders at a dinner in Tokyo during his week-long trip to Asia. Powell’s term ends in May.

The Republican president added that he had wanted Scott Bessent to take over the U.S. central bank but that his Treasury chief declined: “I’m thinking about him for the Fed, … but he won’t take the job. He likes being Treasury (secretary), so we’re not thinking about him really.”

On Monday, 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.

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

At their meeting this week, Federal Reserve policymakers are widely expected to reduce U.S. short-term borrowing costs for the second time this year in an effort to prevent further slowing in the labor market.