Trump has nominated a candidate to head the Fed. What do we know about him?

Donald Trump has officially announced that he is nominating economist Kevin Warsh to be Fed Chairman. "I have known Kevin for a long time and have no doubt that he will go down in history as a GREAT chairman of the Federal Reserve, perhaps even the best," he wrote on Truth Social.

Trump's nominee still needs to be confirmed by the Senate. If confirmed, he would succeed Jerome Powell, whose tenure as Fed chief will end in May.

Warsh was a member of the Fed's board of governors from 2006 to 2011. He joined the board at the age of 35, becoming the regulator's youngest governor. Warsh has experience in times of crisis - he played a crucial role in Washington's behind-the-scenes bailout of Wall Street in 2008-2009, the WSJ notes. Since leaving the Fed in 2011, he has often criticized the central bank's policies.

In 2017, Warsh, who advised Trump on economic policy, was a candidate for the post of head of the regulator. But then, also because of Warsh's age, the president preferred Powell, which he soon regretted: almost all the time working at the Fed, Powell is in conflict with Trump. "Kevin, I could really use you here. Why weren't you more assertive when you wanted this position?" - Trump claimed in 2020.

Warsh, now 55, is considered one of the least radical candidates for Fed chief among those discussed, Reuters writes. While serving on the Fed's Board of Governors, he became known as a proponent of tighter monetary policy. While Warsh has recently publicly advocated lower rates, which is in line with Trump's stance, his experience and reputation suggest he is likely to maintain a hard line in the event of a sharp increase in inflationary pressures, Wealth Club strategist Suzanne Streeter told Reuters.

The willingness to cut rates is seen as a "litmus test" for the next Fed chairman, as investors are concerned about the threat to the central bank's independence, Bloomberg writes. In any case, the choice of Warsh does not guarantee a change in the regulator's policy. Interest rates are set by a majority vote of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which consists of seven Fed governors and five of the 12 presidents of regional federal reserve banks. This week, the FOMC kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged after three consecutive cuts in 2025. The rate remains well above the level Trump wants.

Warsh is the son-in-law of billionaire Ronald Lauder, the son of the founder of the Estée Lauder cosmetics empire and a former Trump classmate who supports Republicans.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor