By Trevor Hunnicutt and Bo Erickson
WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday praised economic adviser Kevin Hassett at a White House event and said he may want to keep him in his
current role, as the president considers his nominee for the next Federal Reserve chair.
"I see Kevin's in the audience, and I just want to thank you. You were fantastic on television today. I actually want to keep you where you are, if you want to know the truth," Trump said.
"Kevin Hassett is so good. I'm saying, 'Wait a minute, if I move him -- these Fed guys, certainly the one we have now, they don't talk much.' I would lose you. It's a serious concern to me," Trump said at the event.
Hassett earlier on Friday addressed the investigation opened by the Justice Department into Fed Chair Jerome Powell over cost overruns for a $2.5 billion project to renovate two historical buildings at the Fed's headquarters in Washington.
Powell has denied wrongdoing, and several Republican U.S. senators have joined foreign economic officials, investors and former U.S. government officials from both political parties in criticizing the probe as politicizing sensitive policymaking.
"Jay is a good man - I expect that there's nothing to see here, that the cost overruns are related to things like asbestos, as he says. But I sure wish they had been more transparent," Hassett said in a Friday interview on Fox Business Network's "Mornings with Maria."
Trump said in a Reuters interview on Wednesday that he has no plan to fire Powell from the Fed.
In the interview, Trump suggested he was inclined to nominate either Hassett or former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh.
“The two Kevins are very good," Trump told Reuters. "You have some other good people too, but I'll be announcing something over the next couple of weeks."
Trump reiterated his praise for Hassett at Friday's White House event.
"You've been incredible. We don't want to lose him, Susie, but we'll see how it all works out," Trump said, referencing his White House chief of staff Susie Wiles.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Bo Erickson; editing by Susan Heavey, Colleen Jenkins, Rod Nickel)
