Trump Picks Successor To Fed Chair Jerome Powell
President Donald J. Trump announced Friday that he is nominating Kevin Warsh to serve as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, tapping the former central bank governor to replace Jerome Powell when Powell’s term expires in May.
Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, praising Warsh as a long-trusted economic mind and forecasting historic leadership at the nation’s central bank.
“I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “On top of everything else, he is ‘central casting,’ and he will never let you down. Congratulations Kevin!”
Warsh, 55, previously served on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors from 2006 to 2011, including during the 2008 financial crisis. Since leaving the Fed, he has been affiliated with the Hoover Institution and has lectured at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. If confirmed by the Senate, Warsh would assume one of the most powerful economic policymaking roles in the federal government, shaping interest-rate policy and monetary strategy.
The nomination now heads to the U.S. Senate, where confirmation hearings are expected to scrutinize the Federal Reserve’s recent conduct amid ongoing Trump-era criticism of the institution’s insulation from democratic accountability.
Warsh has long been viewed as skeptical of aggressive Fed intervention and has expressed openness to lower interest rates, putting him more closely in line with President Trump’s pro-growth, pro-manufacturing economic agenda. His selection concludes a months-long search that reportedly included figures such as National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller.
Powell, whom Trump originally selected as Fed chair in 2017, is expected to remain on the Federal Reserve’s board after stepping down from the chairmanship. His term as chairman expires in May.
The announcement follows renewed friction between Trump and Powell earlier this week, when the Fed voted to hold interest rates at 4.5–4.75 percent, overruling two board members who favored rate cuts. Trump responded with a blistering Truth Social post criticizing Powell’s decision and its economic consequences:
Jerome “Too Late” Powell again refused to cut interest rates, even though he has absolutely no reason to keep them so high. He is hurting our Country, and its National Security. We should have a substantially lower rate now that even this moron admits inflation is no longer a problem or threat. He is costing America Hundreds of Billions of Dollar a year in totally unnecessary and uncalled for INTEREST EXPENSE. Because of the vast amounts of money flowing into our Country because of Tariffs, we should be paying the LOWEST INTEREST RATE OF ANY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
Most of these countries are low interest rate paying cash machines, thought of as elegant, solid, and prime, only because the U.S.A. allows them to be. The Tariffs being charged to them, while bringing in $BILLIONS to us, still allows most of them to have a significant trade surplus, though much smaller, with our beautiful, formerly abused Country. In other words, I have been very nice, kind, and gentle to countries all over the World. With a mere flip of the pen, $BILLIONS more would come into the U.S.A., and these countries would have to go back to making money the old fashioned way, not on the back of America. I hope they all appreciate, although many don’t, what our great Country has done for them. The Fed should substantially lower interest rates, NOW!
Tariffs have made America strong and powerful again, far stronger and more powerful than any other Nation. Commensurate with this strength, both financial and otherwise, WE SHOULD BE PAYING LOWER INTEREST RATES THAN ANY OTHER COUNTRY IN THE WORLD!
With Warsh’s nomination, President Trump is signaling a decisive shift toward tighter accountability at the Federal Reserve—one more aligned with economic growth, national strength, and American sovereignty as his second-term agenda accelerates.