President Trump said Tuesday he was taking Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent off the list of prospective candidates for the next chair of the Federal Reserve.
“Well I love Scott, but he wants to stay where he is,” Trump said on CNBC. “I asked him just last night, ‘Is this something you want?’ ‘Nope I want to stay where I am.’”
“I just take him off. He does not want it. He likes being Treasury secretary,” Trump added.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s term expires in May. Trump has for months railed against the central bank’s leader for not cutting interest rates, though he has indicated he has no plans to test his authority to fire Powell before his term runs out.
Bessent’s name has been floated repeatedly as a potential replacement, though the Treasury Department secretary has downplayed those reports.
Others under consideration include Kevin Warsh, who served on the Federal Reserve’s board of governors, and Kevin Hassett, who is the head of the National Economic Council at the White House.
