U.S. President Donald Trump announced on the 30th (local time) that he would nominate Kevin Warsh as the next chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

"I am pleased to nominate Kevin Warsh for Chairman of the Federal Reserve," Trump wrote on Truth Social, praising Warsh as "one of the greatest Fed chairs, if not the best."

Warsh, a former Fed governor and a vocal critic of the central bank, will take the helm at a time when Trump has repeatedly urged the Fed to accelerate interest rate cuts. The Fed this week held short-term rates steady after three consecutive cuts last year, drawing further criticism from President Trump.

Warsh served on the Federal Reserve Board from 2006 to 2011, working closely with Chairman Ben Bernanke during the 2008-09 financial crisis. He resigned several years before the end of his term. Since then, he has intensified his public criticism of the Fed, calling for a "regime change" and a wholesale overhaul of the framework guiding the central bank's interest rate decisions.

In his announcement, Trump highlighted Warsh's current roles at Stanford University and the Hoover Institution, stating that Warsh is a visiting fellow in economics there and a lecturer at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. He also added that Warsh is a partner at Duquesne Family Office LLC with Stanley Druckenmiller.

According to President Trump's post, Warsh previously worked in mergers and acquisitions at Morgan Stanley and served as Senior Economic Policy Advisor and Chief of Staff for the National Economic Council (NEC) in the George W. Bush administration from 2002 to 2006.

Notably, Warsh is also an outside director of Coupang, which is becoming a point of trade friction between South Korea and the United States. Given his acquaintance with Besent, much attention is being paid to how his appointment as Fed chairman will affect South Korea.

The nomination now goes to the Senate, and the confirmation process is expected to be complicated by a Justice Department investigation into the central bank, according to Newsmax.

Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, has stated that he will block Fed nominee confirmations until the investigation is concluded. The investigation centers on testimony provided by Chairman Powell to Congress regarding a remodeling of the building, which Powell has characterized as a pretext for pressuring the Fed to cut rates.

Warsh has been among the leading candidates, along with White House National Economic Council (NEC) Chairman Kevin Hassett.

Treasury Secretary Scott Besent led the selection process and presented additional finalists to President Trump, including Rick Rieder of BlackRock and Christopher Waller, a Fed governor appointed by President Trump to the board in 2020.

Since President Trump's appointment of Powell as chairman during his first term in 2018, the president has repeatedly urged the Fed's policymakers to pursue more aggressive interest rate cuts.

Even after three consecutive rate cuts at the end of 2025, Trump continued to demand further cuts while also criticizing Chairman Powell for budget overruns related to a major remodeling of the Fed's Washington D.C. headquarters.

Meanwhile, Warsh has signaled a more confrontational stance toward the institution he would lead.

In a CNBC interview last summer, he called for "regime change" at the Fed, stating, "The lack of credibility is, in my opinion, with the current people at the Fed," a position that could create tension within the central bank, where consensus-building is key to policy implementation.

Some analysts view the nomination as occurring at a time of significant instability for the Fed, the most pronounced in decades. Federal borrowing is increasing, and political pressure on monetary policy is unusually direct, all while inflation has not fully returned to the central bank's 2% target.

Chairman Powell responded with uncharacteristic directness to a Justice Department subpoena related to the remodeling project, calling the action a "pretext" to pressure the Fed into further easing at the behest of President Trump.

Questions about the Fed's independence have also intensified as Trump allies have proposed measures to increase White House oversight or alter the way the Fed makes interest rate decisions. These include proposals requiring the chairman to consult with the president when setting rates.

The decision to nominate Warsh concludes a crowded selection process that once included about 11 candidates. The field was narrowed after interview processes led by Chairman Besent, and President Trump indicated last week on CNBC that he had finalized his choice.

Looking ahead, markets are not reflecting dramatic short-term changes: traders currently expect no more than two additional rate cuts this year, and the federal funds rate is expected to stabilize near 3%, a level policymakers cite as the long-term 'neutral rate.'

Another unresolved question is the future trajectory of Chairman Powell. While historically Fed chairs have resigned from the board after leaving the chairmanship, Powell still has two years remaining on his term and could stay. With the Supreme Court hearing a separate case concerning Trump's attempt to remove Governor Lisa Cook, this case could help clarify the extent of the president's authority over Fed governors.

"Many individuals interviewed for Fed governor positions, including Christopher Waller and Rick Rieder, were excellent people and could have had an unlimited future with 'TRUMP'. We have such amazing talent in this country," President Trump said on Truth Social.

In a separate post, he added: "There has been a lot of speculation that the respected Kevin Hassett would be nominated as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, and he would have made a great chairman. But frankly, he is doing such an outstanding job working at the White House with me and my team that I don't want to lose him. Kevin is beyond words. So, as the saying goes, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it!' Kevin, thank you for doing so well! President DJT."

By Sung Ku Hong, Editor-in-Chief of NNP, USA / Special Correspondent NNP info@newsandpost.com