In comments at a Cabinet meeting, Trump also said that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who led the search process, does not want the top Fed job, but did not indicate who he preferred.
Trump had told reporters on Sunday that he already knew who he planned to choose to succeed Powell, whose term as Federal Reserve chief ends in May, but did not respond when asked if it was Kevin Hassett, his top economic adviser and the favorite in online betting.
On Tuesday, he reiterated that he had narrowed the list down to just one person.
“I guess there’s a potential Federal Reserve chairman here, too. Can I say that? Potential. He’s a respected person, I tell you. Thank you, Kevin,” Trump said at the Cabinet meeting.
Hassett, 63, who chaired the White House Council of Economic Advisers during Trump’s first term, has demonstrated his loyalty to the president in regular, if not weekly, television appearances on CNBC, Fox News and other channels, where he has backed Trump’s sweeping import tariffs and his calls for lower interest rates.
Trump, an avid television viewer, probably watches Hassett frequently, unlike most other candidates.
Hassett, whose office is in the West Wing of the White House, also has direct access to the president and has helped shape his views on trade and the economy, as well as monetary policy.
Other candidates to succeed Powell include two sitting Federal Reserve governors — Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller — former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh and BlackRock’s Rick Rieder.
Bessent has said he completed two rounds of interviews with each of them and planned to present a narrow list of finalists to Trump and other White House officials this month.
Trump has made no secret that he prefers someone who favors lower rates, and Hassett and the others have been outspoken advocates of exactly that, a preference that could be challenged by a buoyant economy that has made many Federal Reserve officials cautious about more accommodative monetary policy.
