"I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best. On top of everything else, he is 'central casting, and he will never let you down," Trump said in announcing his latest move to put his stamp on a Fed he persistently criticizes for not caving to his demands for deep reductions in borrowing costs.

Global stocks edged higher while the dollar rose and the price of gold plunged after Trump announced his pick of Warsh, who markets perceive as someone who would support lower rates but who would stop well short of the more aggressive easing associated with some of the other potential nominees.

Trump announced the nomination, which requires confirmation by the US Senate, in a post on social media. No public events have been listed on the president's schedule for Friday involving the Fed.

How quickly Warsh's nomination gets through a closely divided Senate is unclear. One key Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, which will be the first body to review the nomination, already has repeated an earlier vow not to support any nominee to the Fed as long as Trump's Department of Justice continues with a criminal probe of Powell that became public earlier this month.

"My position has not changed: I will oppose the confirmation of any Federal Reserve nominee, including for the position of Chairman, until the DOJ's inquiry into Chairman Powell is fully and transparently resolved," Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said in a post on X.

With Republicans holding a 13-11 majority on the committee and all Democrats likely to oppose Warsh's nomination, Tillis could deadlock the panel if he maintains his current position.

Other Republican senators on the panel, however, said Warsh would be good for Fed independence.

"No one is better suited to steer the Fed and refocus our central bank on its core statutory mandate," Senator Bill Hagerty said in a social media post.

The Fed has long been seen as a stabilizing force in global financial markets due in no small part to its perceived independence from politics, and Trump's escalating efforts to test that independence will be a key issue through the approval process.

It has also opened the door to the possibility that Powell, who called the criminal probe a pretext to pressure the Fed into setting monetary policy as the president wishes, may opt to stay on at the Fed as a governor even after his term as central bank chief is up in a bid to safeguard it from political capture.

The nomination caps a months-long process that often resembled a public audition as Warsh, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett and other top contenders, including sitting Fed Governor Christopher Waller and Wall Street insider Rick Rieder, appeared regularly on television to tout their credentials and showcase their thoughts about the economy and Fed policy.

Trump in August named White House economic adviser Stephen Miran to fill a vacant governor's seat on the Fed, where he has become a leading proponent of the aggressive rate cuts that Trump has long sought. Trump has also tried to force out Fed Governor Lisa Cook in a battle now before the Supreme Court that, if successful, would mark the first time a president has ever fired a U.S. central bank policymaker.

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