White House Denies Report that Scott Bessent Is a Leading Candidate for Next Fed Chair

JH Kim

Summary

It was reported that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was mentioned as a leading candidate for the next Fed Chair.
However, the White House immediately denied the related report as untrue.
President Trump stated that he would soon nominate a successor to Chair Powell.

On the 10th (local time), Reuters reported, citing Bloomberg, that US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is being mentioned as a strong candidate to succeed Jerome Powell as Chair of the Federal Reserve (Fed). However, the White House immediately denied the report.

According to the report, Secretary Bessent is a close aide to President Trump and has played a leading role in global trade reorganization as well as being deeply involved in tax and regulatory reforms.

It is reported that he, along with former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh, is among the possible candidates for the next Fed Chair. Warsh had previously been interviewed by President Trump for the Treasury Secretary position as well.

Nevertheless, a White House official dismissed the Bloomberg report as “not true.” Earlier, President Trump had stated last week that he would “nominate a successor to Chair Powell soon.”