Business & Economics
Trump Pencils In Early-2026 Fed Chair Reveal, Hints Hassett Is the Lone Finalist
On 2 Dec 2025, President Trump said his shortlist for Jerome Powell’s successor is now “down to one” and that he will announce the nominee in early 2026, conspicuously singling out economic adviser Kevin Hassett during a televised Cabinet meeting.
Focusing Facts
- During the Dec 2, 2025 meeting, Trump stated the Fed pick would be named “probably early next year,” backing off Treasury Secretary Bessent’s prior Christmas-2025 target date.
- Trump told reporters the original pool of about ten candidates has been narrowed to a single name and, moments later, thanked Hassett publicly as a “respected” and “potential” Fed chair.
- Jerome Powell’s statutory term as Fed chair ends 13 May 2026, after which he may remain a governor until January 2028.
Context
White House pressure on the Fed is not new—think Lyndon Johnson’s 1965 ranch confrontation with William McChesney Martin or Richard Nixon’s 1971 arm-twisting of Arthur Burns that preceded the Great Inflation. Trump’s overt courtship of a dovish loyalist echoes those episodes and underscores a long-running trend: presidents blaming independent central bankers for economic headwinds and seeking pliable leaders when electoral stakes rise. Since the 1935 Banking Act created the modern Fed, each chair has served out his term; the political campaign now under way tests that convention and, by extension, the guardrails of Fed independence that global investors have assumed for nearly a century. If a supply-side advocate like Hassett receives a 14-year governor term and a four-year chairmanship, the precedent could recalibrate monetary policy well past any single administration—much as Burns’ tenure shaped the 1970s price spiral. Whether this moment proves pivotal or performative will be judged decades hence by inflation, employment, and the credibility of U.S. institutions circa 2050-2120.
Perspectives
International wire-service publications
e.g., Devdiscourse, The Straits Times, Free Malaysia Today — Report Trump’s plan to name a new Fed chair in early 2026 as the culmination of a cautious, month-long vetting process and stress that sticky 3% inflation and institutional checks will likely curb any push for steep rate cuts. Heavy reliance on establishment economists and central-bank norms leads these outlets to frame Trump’s preference for lower rates as risky, implicitly favoring Fed independence and downplaying potential growth benefits he touts.
Market-focused financial news sites
e.g., Yahoo! Finance/Bloomberg, FXStreet, Investing.com — Interpret Trump’s remarks chiefly through the lens of market impact, spotlighting Kevin Hassett as the frontrunner while recalling his past bad market calls and amplifying the president’s jabs at Jerome Powell. Serving traders hungry for actionable angles, these outlets accentuate controversy and Hassett’s forecasting missteps to stoke volatility-watching readership, potentially overstating immediate market risk.
Conservative, pro-Trump outlets
e.g., NTD, Coingape, Transport Topics — Portray Trump as decisively reshaping U.S. monetary policy, depicting his criticism of Powell and promise of an early-2026 pick as justified moves to secure faster rate cuts and stronger growth. Political affinity with the president prompts these stories to spotlight his assertiveness while glossing over worries about politicizing the Fed and the nominee’s independence.