Fed chair to be one of five already named: Trump

President Donald Trump said he plans to choose from among five finalists to be the next Federal Reserve Chairman and will make his decision soon.

According to people familiar with the process, Trump is working with a shortlist of five names to lead the central bank:

' Former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh

' Stanford University economist John Taylor

' Current Fed Gov. Jerome Powell

' National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn

' Current Chairwoman Janet Yellen.

'Within those five you'll probably get the answer,” he told reporters at a White House news conference Tuesday, adding he will make the decision in a 'short period.”

'Honestly I like them all, I do,” Trump said. 'I have a great respect for all of them.”

Trump's selection will be unveiled before he leaves Nov. 3 for an 11-day trip to Asia and Hawaii, a person familiar with the process said earlier Tuesday.

Trump already has interviewed some of the candidates and plans to interview Yellen on Thursday. Her current term ends in February.

The post is subject to confirmation by the U.S. Senate, a process that can take months to complete.

U.S. central bankers are presiding over the third-longest economic expansion in U.S. history, fueled in part by Yellen's caution in reversing the Fed's crisis-era interventions. Under her tenure, the Federal Open Market Committee has raised rates just four times since December 2015.

At issue for the next Fed chair, if Yellen isn't renominated, is ensuring the long expansion doesn't give way to a recession.

In his first term, Trump may nominate as many as five governors to the Fed's seven-person board - decisions whose consequences may outlast his presidency. Governors are appointed to terms as long as 14 years, while the next Fed chair will serve until at least 2022 and could be reappointed.