Trump takes Scott Bessent off his short-list to replace Jerome Powell as the next Fed chair

“I love Scott, but he wants to stay where he is,” Trump said in a wide-ranging CNBC “Squawk Box” interview.

He recounted a conversation last evening in which he asked Bessent whether he wanted to helm the central bank. In Trump’s telling, Bessent replied: 'Nope! I want to stay where I am. ... I want to work with you.'"

"He likes being Treasury Secretary. He's doing a really good job. We've made the greatest trade deals in the history of our country,” Trump said.

The president said there was a group of four possible candidates to take over Powell’s spot next year. He named two of them and said he "likes" both: White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett and former Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Kevin Warsh.

Trump reiterated his intent to announce a short-term replacement for Fed Governor Adriana Kugler, who is stepping down on Aug. 8. Still, he didn’t rule out that whomever he picks could also be his candidate to replace Powell.

He also said that he would soon announce new tariffs on semiconductor chips and pharmaceutical products. “We'll be putting an initially small tariff on pharmaceuticals,” Trump said. “But in one year, one in a half years maximum, it's gonna go to 150% and then it's gonna go to 250%, because we want pharmaceuticals made in our country."

Trump said he’d roll out his semiconductor tariffs “within the next week or so.”