President-elect Donald J. Trump is eyeing a new candidate for Treasury Secretary amid internal debate over who should have the role: the former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh.
Mr. Trump is also considering the Wall Street billionaire Marc Rowan.
Mr. Trump had been expected to pick either Howard Lutnick, the chief executive of the Wall Street firm Cantor Fitzgerald, or Scott Bessent, the founder of the investment firm Key Square Capital Management and a former money manager for George Soros. And he had been seen as likely to make the selection late last week.
But he has been having second thoughts about the top two candidates, and has slowed down his selection process. He is expected to invite the contenders to interview with him this week at Mar-a-Lago.
Mr. Lutnick, who has been running Mr. Trump’s transition operation, has gotten on Mr. Trump’s nerves lately. Mr. Trump has privately expressed frustration that Mr. Lutnick has been hanging around him too much and that he has been manipulating the transition process for his own ends. A person familiar with the process, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the battle between Mr. Lutnick and Mr. Bessent as a knife fight, with Mr. Lutnick as the primary aggressor.
Mr. Bessent is said to still be under consideration, and has also been raised by people in Mr. Trump’s economic circles as a possible contender to lead the White House’s National Economic Council. Elon Musk, a close adviser to the president-elect, on Sunday called Mr. Bessent a “business-as-usual” choice for Treasury secretary in a post on his social media platform, X, while throwing his support behind Mr. Lutnick.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Lutnick met on Sunday, and it wasn’t immediately clear what came of the discussion, according to two people briefed on the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters. Mr. Bessent has also met with Mr. Trump. The other two — as well as any other new names that emerge — are likely to be asked to meet with Mr. Trump this week, according to one of the people briefed on the matter.
Karoline Leavitt, the incoming White House press secretary, would only say, “President-elect Trump is making decisions on who will serve in his second administration. Those decisions will continue to be announced by him when they are made.”
Mr. Trump has told people that he wants somebody “big” for the role — and tends to value wealth and status on Wall Street. He has made clear to people close to him that he is very impressed with Mr. Rowan, the chief executive and a co-founder of Apollo Global Management.
He has also remarked that Mr. Warsh is smart and handsome.
Mr. Warsh has also been regularly raised as a possible option for Federal Reserve chairman. Jerome H. Powell currently holds that job, but his term expires in 2026.
Mr. Trump considered Mr. Warsh to lead the Fed back in 2017. He picked Mr. Powell instead, but he came to regret that decision when Mr. Powell’s central bank resisted lowering interest rates more sharply.
“I could have used you a little bit here,” Mr. Trump told Mr. Warsh during a news conference in 2020. “Why weren’t you more forceful when you wanted that job?”
He added: “I would have been very happy with you.”
The slowdown on the choice for Treasury secretary has been in stark contrast to how quickly Mr. Trump has moved on a range of other major cabinet posts.
Mr. Trump is especially concerned about the effect of his Treasury pick on the stock market, and does not want to interrupt the market’s momentum since his victory.
That calculus has ruled out his former trade adviser Robert Lighthizer, whose hard-line embrace of tariffs would likely jar the markets. Mr. Lighthizer still might be offered another senior economic or trade role.
But Mr. Trump also does not want a Treasury secretary who will oppose his populist economics, as his first-term Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, often did. Of the choices he’s considering, Mr. Lutnick has been especially vocal in support of tariffs.
Given Mr. Trump’s uncertainty, people close to him stressed that it is also possible that a new person emerges as a candidate for the job.
A spokeswoman for Apollo declined to comment. Mr. Warsh did not respond to a request for comment. Mr. Bessent said he was “not speaking” when contacted by a reporter. A spokeswoman for Mr. Lutnick did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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