Trump stated that he may appoint the next Federal Reserve Chairman slightly ahead of schedule, with the candidates narrowed down to three or four

U.S. President Trump stated that he may "slightly advance" the appointment of the next Federal Reserve Chairman and added that he has narrowed down the candidates to three or four for Powell's successor. Trump said on Wednesday at an event at the Kennedy Center in Washington, "I will announce the new Federal Reserve Chairman's candidate at some point in the near future—I think I will announce it slightly in advance. I have narrowed it down to three or four names." He described these candidates as "all excellent, very outstanding." Trump has previously criticized the Federal Reserve's decision to keep interest rates unchanged and has repeatedly called for Powell to resign, even publicly considering directly firing him, although he later stated he would wait for his term to end in May. If a successor is announced before Powell's term is up, it could lead to a "shadow Federal Reserve" and cause investors to waver in their focus on the current and future chair's positions. Despite Trump insisting that the candidate list is relatively short, U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin stated in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Wednesday that he plans to consider up to 11 candidates. In recent weeks, Trump has intensified pressure on Powell, including threatening to file a major lawsuit regarding the Federal Reserve's headquarters renovation project, which has been questioned due to cost overruns. Trump stated on Wednesday that he believes interest rates should be lowered by another three or four percentage points. "We pay over a trillion dollars in interest every year, which is really just an accounting calculation." Powell defended the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy, stating that the impact of the U.S. President's massive tariff plan on inflation is uncertain. However, Trump argued that high borrowing costs are hurting American businesses, consumers, and homebuyers. "People can't get mortgages. They are paying too much because of Powell being too late; he is really incompetent." Data showed that U.S. core inflation rose in July, as reported earlier on Tuesday, although the increase in commodity prices was relatively moderate. Overall, the CPI data alleviated concerns about prices rising due to tariffs and raised market expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in September