WASHINGTON (AP) -- For the second time in two days, President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would like to appoint Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to chair the Federal Reserve.

Yet Bessent keeps saying he doesn't want the job, Trump added, in comments to the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum.

"We're thinking about him for the Fed, but he wants no part of it, he likes being secretary of the Treasury," Trump said. "I think we'll leave him -- so let's cross your name off right, officially, right?"

Trump has been sharply critical of the current Fed chair, Jerome Powell, whose term ends in May, for not cutting interest rates quickly enough. Trump's pick as a replacement will almost certainly push for rapid interest rate cuts and likely institute wide-ranging changes in how the Fed operates. Bessent earlier this year published extensive criticisms of the Fed's groundbreaking efforts to shore up financial markets and the economy after the 2008-2009 Great Recession and during the pandemic.

Bessent is heading up the Trump administration's search for a new Fed chair. Yet despite his protestations, he is also widely seen as a leading potential replacement for Powell.

"He's a top-tier candidate right now," Stephen Moore, a senior economic adviser to Trump in his first term, said. Trump "wants to shake things up, so I think he wants an outsider."

Two of the five candidates Bessent has named are current Fed officials: Governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman. The other three would fit the outsider criteria: Kevin Hassett, currently a top White House economic official; Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor who has been highly critical of the Fed; and Rick Rieder, a senior managing director at asset manager BlackRock.

Late Tuesday, in an interview on Fox News with Bret Baier, Bessent said the administration is continuing to interview potential nominees for Fed chair. By mid-December, "the president will meet the final three candidates and hopefully have an answer before Christmas," Bessent said.

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Associated Press Writer Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.