Bessent: Fed pick this month, one candidate left to interview
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Photo: Ben Brewer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
President Trump will likely select a new Federal Reserve chair this month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday, as he gave new details on the search for America's next top central banker.
The big picture: In one of the most consequential appointments of his term, Trump has publicly mused about the process and suggested he has already decided. Bessent, who has led the search process, said one of four remaining candidates is yet to be interviewed.
- Rick Rieder, a BlackRock executive, is the remaining finalist to be interviewed, Bessent said.
- White House aide Kevin Hassett and former Fed governor Kevin Warsh are thought to be the leading candidates, and current Fed governor Christopher Waller has also interviewed.
What they're saying: "I would expect, the president's going to Davos in two weeks, so I don't know if it'll be right before or right after that, but I think in January," Bessent said when asked about the Fed nomination at the Economic Club of Minnesota.
- Bessent left no mystery as to what sort of interest rate policy the president seeks, saying that "at a certain point, the Federal Reserve must also do its part to spur investment."
- "The Fed needs to have merely an open mind," he said. "The open-mind maestro, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, resisted premature rate hikes during the technology boom of the 1990s—and history proved him right."
- Bessent predicted a booming year for the U.S. economy in 2026, saying "we will reap the rewards" of Trump's tax cut and deregulatory agenda.
Of note: Bessent also appeared at a school, where he took questions from high school students about financial literacy. He encouraged them to get early experience with investing.
- "Start keeping a model portfolio," he said at the Providence Academy in Plymouth, Minn.
- "How does it move? Why does it move? I think, pick one or two financial things that you like reading, and just read those on the weekend. Become engaged, and also game it out," such as how the U.S. removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro affects oil and bond prices or which companies are winning the race for AI.
