Getty
Donald Trump promotes his reality show "The Apprentice" in 2012.
- Trump is down to five candidates for Fed chair; Warsh and Powell appear to be favorites.
- Warsh comes from a politically influential family, but may be seen as too young.
- Powell, a current Fed governor and a former private equity magnate, would signal continuity.
Donald Trump has indicated he is close to making a decision on arguably his most powerful economic appointee: the next chair of the Federal Reserve.
While the president has dangled the possibility of reappointment before current chair Janet Yellen, her chances are seen as slim - she's a liberal Democrat who has voiced concern about Trump's desire to roll back post-crisis financial rules she was charged with implementing.
The two favorites are Jerome Powell, a former private equity magnate now on the Fed's board, and Kevin Warsh a former Fed governor and Morgan Stanley banker whose wealthy family is a major Republican donor.
Also on the list, but unlikely as picks, are John Taylor, a former Treasury official under George W. Bush who has advocated for raising rates sooner and more quickly and Gary Cohn, head of the president's National Economic Council.
Cohn was long seen as a shoo-in for the Fed position, but then he voiced some concern about Trump's non-condemnation of Nazis after after the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August, leading to a falling out between the two. Another reason to doubt Cohn's appointment is that Trump really needs him around if he wants to try to pass his tax cut plan. Cohn is a former president of Goldman Sachs.
Here are more details about Trump's Fed chair final five: