The range of candidates for Federal Reserve Chairman has narrowed to three people, Trump reiterated his support for Powell to take up the position.

Recently, a series of actions by President Trump are driving the Federal Reserve into unprecedented turmoil. President Trump stated on Friday that he has a good idea of who will be chosen as the next Federal Reserve Chairman, with White House National Economic Council Director Hassett being one of the three potential candidates. However, he refused to acknowledge whether Hassett would be selected as the Federal Reserve Chairman. Trump mentioned that Treasury Secretary Benson was the fourth choice for the Federal Reserve Chairman, leaving three candidates. Wash and Wolle are other potential candidates. Trump openly emphasized that he hopes the new chairman will be more cooperative with his policy goal of "quickly lowering interest rates," and criticized Powell for being "too slow," leading to high mortgage rates and causing a burden on home buyers. Market participants believe that the choice of the Federal Reserve Chairman will directly impact the future direction of interest rates, inflation policies, and central bank independence, making this personnel decision undoubtedly one of the biggest uncertainties in the global financial markets in the coming months. On August 1st, Federal Reserve Governor Kugle unexpectedly announced her resignation, shocking the financial industry. Nominated by former President Biden, Kugle was confirmed by the Senate in 2023, with a term originally set to end in January 2026. However, in her resignation letter, she did not disclose the reason for leaving, only stating that "it has been my honor in my life." The Federal Reserve, in a press release, stated that Kugle will return to Georgetown University to teach, but the school's official website still lists her as a "Federal Reserve Governor on leave" and does not show any teaching schedule, making her resignation reasons more mysterious. In an interview with the media, Trump hinted that Kugle's resignation may be due to differences with the "Powell camp" on interest rate issues. He said, "She disagrees with the 'too slow' Powell, so we will wait and see." Kugle's resignation gave Trump a golden opportunity. Trump quickly nominated White House adviser Milan to take her place and held a confirmation hearing in the Senate. If Milan is successfully appointed, Trump will control three out of seven seats on the Federal Reserve Board. He openly stated at a cabinet meeting on August 26th, "Once we have a majority, the real estate market will turn around. Interest rates are too high right now, and we must lower them to revive the housing market." Another battle Trump has with the Federal Reserve is focused on Board member Cook. On August 15th, the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, William Pulte, accused Cook of listing two properties as "primary residences" on mortgage papers simultaneously, potentially getting a lower rate, and submitted criminal charges to the Justice Department. Five days later, Trump announced Cook's dismissal on these grounds and publicly released a firing letter to Cook on social media, claiming that this constituted a "just cause" for dismissal. Cook quickly responded, stating that the president has "no legal authority" to dismiss her and firmly stating that she will not resign: "I will continue to fulfill my duties and serve the American economy." On August 28th, Cook officially sued the Trump administration, pointing out that the so-called "mortgage fraud" is just a smokescreen to cover up the real reason, which is a disagreement on interest rate policy. The case is currently being heard in federal court. Pulte's accusations have also extended to other long-time political enemies of Trump, including New York State Attorney General Letitia James and California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, but all three have denied any wrongdoing. Since taking office in January, Trump has continuously pressured Powell and the Federal Reserve Board to lower interest rates. He has repeatedly called Powell "Mr. Too Late" on social media, accusing him of being "always too slow" and hindering the economic development of the United States. The White House spokesman has also publicly criticized Powell as "stupid," claiming that the president's policy agenda is being hindered by the inaction of the Federal Reserve. Trump's ultimate goal is to have a majority of his appointees on the Federal Reserve Board, thus dominating interest rate decisions. He openly stated, "Once we have the majority, we can fully control monetary policy." As the Cook incident continues to unfold, the media has uncovered discrepancies in property records under Kugle's name. Foreign media investigations show that she reported a mortgage on a property worth between $1 million and $5 million as a "personal residence" in government financial disclosure documents, but Maryland tax records show that the property is not a "primary residence." In addition, she and her husband once owned another residence, which they sold in 2023. Kugle explained through a spokesperson that this was only due to the county government not updating records and emphasized that she had always accurately reported her primary residence. Legal experts point out that "primary residence," "personal residence," and "principal residence" have different legal meanings, and Kugle's situation is entirely different from the mortgage document discrepancy involving Cook, with no evidence of wrongdoing at this time. However, the Trump administration has frequently used similar records as political weapons in recent years, accusing opponents of "fraud" to create public pressure. In addition to the Federal Reserve struggle, Trump is also intensifying his efforts in the trade arena. After Alphabet Inc. was fined nearly $3.5 billion by the EU for its advertising technology business, Trump threatened to initiate a Section 301 investigation to "eliminate" the EU's "discriminatory fines" against American tech companies. In a post on Truth Social, he said, "We cannot allow Europe to take away money that should belong to American investments and employment. If this situation continues, I will have to take action." Trump also mentioned that Apple Inc. was fined over $14 billion in Ireland for tax issues, accusing the EU of "plundering American corporate wealth" and demanding that Apple Inc. "get this money back." Just the day before, Trump had dinner with executives of Alphabet Inc. and Apple Inc. among other tech giants, and received public thanks from Alphabet Inc. CEO Pichai. This move is seen by the outside world as an important move for Trump to garner support from Silicon Valley in an election year.