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Jerome Powell Under Fire Over Fed Policies
US President Donald Trump has fired a new round of criticisms at Jerome Powell over his handling of the Federal Reserve, hinting at an imminent replacement. According to a report, Trump noted that plans are underway to name a new Fed Chair before the end of the year.
Trump disclosed the plans during a dinner for business leaders in Tokyo as part of his week-long trip to Asia. The US President has previously railed against Powell over his refusal to cut interest rates, with the Federal Reserve headquarters fiasco fuelling more criticisms.
“We have an incompetent head of the Fed. We got a bad Fed guy, but he’ll be out of there in a few months, and we will get somebody new,” said Trump.
Powell’s term as Fed Chair is expected to come to an end in May 2026, bringing an end to a nearly eight-year tenure at the helm of affairs.
 
Early in the week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent revealed that the administration is considering five potential replacements for Powell. At the moment, the five finalists include White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett, BlackRock executive Rick Rieder, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman, former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, and current Fed Governor Christopher Waller.
Bessent noted that he will do one more round of interviews on the five finalists before formally submitting their names to the White House after the Thanksgiving holiday. Meanwhile, Trump had previously tapped Bessent to replace Powell, but the Treasury Secretary declined to serve as Federal Reserve chair.
“I’m thinking about him for the Fed, but he won’t take the job,” said Trump on Bessent’s refusal. “He likes being Treasury Secretary, so we’re not thinking about him really.”
Despite Powell’s previous reluctance to cut interest rates, cryptocurrency markets are pricing in a rate cut in October’s FOMC meeting. Data from the FedWatch CME tool pegs the probability for a rate cut to 375-400 bps at 99.9%, potentially representing back-to-back cuts after September’s easing.
At the moment, Bitcoin is trading at $113,096, while Ethereum is holding the $4,000 psychological price point. However, investors are eyeing a bullish upswing following forecasted rate cuts that are expected to push the global cryptocurrency market capitalization above $4 trillion.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/trump-mulls-replacing-jerome-powell-as-fed-chair-as-shortlist-narrows/