Trump names candidates for top Fed job

President Trump says he is considering three main candidates to lead the Federal Reserve Board. 

In an interview on Fox Business Network’s “Mornings with Maria” set to air Sunday, Trump said he is considering Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell, Stanford University economist John Taylor and current Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen. 

“Well as you know, I’ve been seeing a number of people, and most people are saying it’s down to two — Mr. Taylor, Mr. Powell,” Trump said. “I also met with Janet Yellen who I like a lot, I really like her a lot. So I have three people I’m looking at, and there are a couple of others.”

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White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also said on Friday that Trump is considering nominating Powell and Taylor to the top two positions on the board and that an announcement on the matter is soon to come.

In that scenario, one would serve as Fed chair while the other would serve as vice chair.

“That is something that is under consideration, but he hasn’t ruled out a number of options,” Sanders said during the daily press briefing. “He’ll have an announcement on that soon, in the coming days.”

Reuters had reported the day before that White House National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn and former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh are also under consideration to chair the Fed. 

Trump met with Yellen at the White House on Thursday, and the Fed chairwoman visited once again on Friday to have lunch with Cohn. The White House said they the two meet semi-regularly and that the meeting was “nothing out of the ordinary.”

Trump railed against Yellen on the campaign trail, saying slow interest rate hikes were making the Obama-era economy appear stronger than it actually was. But he has spoken positively about her since taking office. 

Yellen’s term as Fed chairwoman expires in February.