Trump Eyes Kevin Warsh for Treasury Secretary
2min read According to insiders, Donald Trump has proposed to select financier Kevin Warsh as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Furthermore, when the term of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell ends in 2026, Warsh may also be nominated as the Federal Reserve Chairman.
The aforementioned informed sources indicated that Trump discussed this potential arrangement with Warsh during a meeting at his private club, Mar-a-Lago, in Florida on Wednesday.
Warsh has become one of the hottest candidates for U.S. Treasury Secretary in the past week. However, as of Thursday evening, Trump had not yet made a formal decision on who to choose for this key cabinet position. Informed sources said that Trump is also weighing how to handle the vacancy at the Federal Reserve and is likely to make a final decision only before Powell's term ends in May 2026.
Some of these informed sources revealed that Trump is also considering appointing Wall Street investor Scott Bessent to lead the White House Economic Council, with the expectation that after Warsh potentially becomes the Federal Reserve Chairman, Bessent could be nominated to serve as Treasury Secretary at a later date.
However, until an official announcement is made, Trump is still likely to change his mind at any time. He may still decide not to choose Warsh or Bessent for these positions and instead select one of the other popular candidates to lead the Treasury, such as another top contender for the Treasury Secretary position—Apollo Global Management CEO Marc Rowan. In recent days, Trump has been in closed-door discussions about the Treasury Secretary candidate.
Bessent has publicly stated that Trump should announce as soon as possible who he plans to choose as Powell's successor so that this shadow chairman can attempt to weaken Powell and make him a lame duck.
According to a person familiar with the situation, during Wednesday's meeting, Trump asked Warsh about his past stance on tariff issues. Warsh has always been a critic of protectionist trade policies.
In a commentary article published by Warsh in the media in 2018, he proposed that Trump's tariff plan could lead to so-called U.S. economic isolationism. Warsh wrote at the time, Trump's mercantilist rhetoric may prove to be more than just a negotiating tactic; it foretells a world of new tariffs and trade restrictions. And economic isolationism will cause significant damage to our economic growth prospects.
It is currently unclear whether Warsh's long-standing support for free and open trade can make Trump change his mind.
Although industry insiders generally believe that no matter who becomes the next U.S. Treasury Secretary, imposing tariffs are an inevitable topic in the Trump 2.0 era. However, if Warsh takes on this position, the market will pay attention to whether this will soften Trump's tough tariff stance.
Warsh, 54 years old, worked at Morgan Stanley in his early years and later served as an economic advisor in the George W. Bush administration. In 2006, he entered the Federal Reserve Board as the youngest governor ever. It is worth mentioning that Warsh was one of the candidates Trump considered for Federal Reserve Chairman during his first term. However, Trump later chose Powell, despite his views on Powell changing rapidly after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates.
Warsh has long been seen as a potential successor to Powell, with some of Trump's economic advisors previously urging Trump to choose him for the position.
Public information shows that Warsh has a good private relationship with Trump, and his connections and Republican background may be seen as a plus by Trump and his allies.
In fact, apart from his stance on tariffs, Warsh is actually a relatively market-friendly candidate for the U.S. Treasury Secretary or Federal Reserve Chairman from multiple perspectives. Although Trump advocates that the president should have a say in monetary policy issues, Warsh, a former Federal Reserve governor, has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the Federal Reserve's independence.