President Donald Trump signaled he has settled on his choice to lead the Federal Reserve, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that he knows who he will nominate.
"I know who I am going to pick, yeah," Trump told reporters.
"We'll be announcing it," Trump said while traveling from Florida to Joint Base Andrews.
When asked directly if White House adviser Kevin Hassett is the pick, he smiled: "I'm not telling you, we'll be announcing it."
Hassett, who has emerged as the perceived frontrunner, downplayed the speculation during Sunday interviews with CBS and Fox News.
He said the real news for markets is simply that an announcement is coming soon.
"Once it became clear that the president's getting closer to make a decision, the markets really celebrated — interest rates went down, we had one of our best Treasury auctions ever," he said Sunday. "If he picks me, I'd be happy to serve."
If Hassett is nominated this month to replace Jerome Powell when the chair's term ends in May, he will effectively serve as a "shadow Fed Chair" for five months, according to Mike Dolan.
With Trump long signaling his intent to move on from Powell, investors have been bracing for this transition — and for how markets might react to an extended period in which the incoming chair's comments could move bonds, stocks, and currencies.
The timing has narrowed that overlap but not eliminated it.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recently said a nominee would likely be named before Christmas, and shortly afterward Bloomberg reported Hassett had jumped to the front of the pack.
Betting markets followed swiftly, pushing his odds above 50% and widening the gap with Fed Governor Christopher Waller.
A Hassett-led Fed would sit atop a board increasingly shaped by Trump's appointees. In addition to Stephen Miran and holdovers Waller and Michelle Bowman, a pending legal challenge involving Governor Lisa Cook could open yet another seat.
That could deliver Trump a 5–2 majority — raising fresh concerns over the White House's influence on an institution that traditionally prides itself on independence.
Markets, meanwhile, are weighing the implications of Trump's demand for steep rate cuts even as inflation remains above target.
Miran supports 2–3 percentage point reductions, while Waller and Bowman have taken a more dovish turn since Trump returned to office. Risk premiums, the yield curve, and inflation expectations could all reprice as the transition approaches, with the dollar already showing signs of weakness.
Hassett has been unusually public for someone potentially heading into a market-moving role, delivering multiple interviews and speeches in recent weeks. He has argued that rates should keep falling, criticized what he calls a "partisan" Fed, dismissed tariff-driven inflation as largely temporary, and floated the idea of 50-year mortgages.
His past as a conservative economist is well established — as is his occasional appetite for bold claims, famously co-authoring Dow 36,000 in 1999. If he becomes chair, Dolan writes, investors will scrutinize every word for clues on how he might steer monetary policy and how sharply he may diverge from Powell.
For now, Trump says only that the decision is made — and markets are watching closely for the formal announcement.
Newsmax writer Eric Mack and Reuters contributed to this report
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