‘Down to maybe one, in my mind’

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is nearing the end of a search to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and hinted he has his candidate in mind.

In a CNBC interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the president said a search that began in September and once included as many as 11 candidates is nearly over.

“I’d say we’re down to three, but we’re down to two. And I probably can tell you, we’re down to maybe one, in my mind,” the president said to CNBC’s Joe Kernen. Still, Trump declined to name the one.

The candidate list included past and current Fed officials, economists and Wall Street investors.

The finalists had been widely believed to be Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, current Governor Christopher Waller, National Economic Council chief Kevin Hassett and BlackRock fixed income head Rick Rieder. Trump in the interview said Rieder, the last to interview, is “impressive” and praised all the candidates.

In recent days, Trump said he preferred Hassett stay at the NEC, likely eliminating him from contention. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent led the interview process. Trump in the past has expressed support for Bessent to take the Fed job, but said Wednesday, “Scott only wants to stay where he is.”

The statement on the Fed chair is the latest in a series of dramatic twists and turns in the saga following a year of unprecedented tumult for the central bank.

Though Trump criticized Powell and his colleagues heavily during his first term in office from 2017 to 2021, he ramped up the pressure considerably in 2025. That included more verbal assaults on policymakers as well as threats to fire Powell and an actual attempt to sack Governor Lisa Cook, a move that was the subject of a Supreme Court hearing earlier Wednesday on presidential authority over the institution.

With Powell’s removal as chair a near certainty, the next question turns to whether he’ll stay on another two years to serve out his remaining term as governor. Staying on would give Powell a continued say over monetary policy and interest rates and could act a bulwark against Trump’s efforts to exert control over Fed decisions.

Trump indicated some indifference as to what Powell decides.

“We live with the cards you’re dealt,” he said. “If that happens, his life won’t be very, very happy, I don’t think, by doing it. I think he wants to get out. He has not done a good job.”

Trump again criticized Powell for the renovation project at Fed headquarters, the price of which has run north of $2.5 billion. The Justice Department has subpoenaed Powell relative to the project.

“I could have done it for $25 million and it would have been nicer than what they’re doing,” Trump said.