Jean-Claude Trichet (born 20 December 1942) is a French civil servant who is the current president of the European Central Bank, a position he has held since 2003. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank for International Settlements. Trichet ranks 5th on Newsweek's list of the world's most powerful along with economic triumvirs Ben Bernanke (4th) and Masaaki Shirakawa (6th).

Trichet was born in Lyon, France and educated at the École des Mines de Nancy. He later trained at the Institut d'etudes politiques de Paris (best known as Sciences Po) and the Ecole nationale d'administration, two French higher education institutions in the field of political science and state administration.

In 1987 Trichet became a member of an influential Washington-based financial advisory body, the Group of Thirty. Later, in 1993 he was appointed governor of Banque de France. On 1 November 2003 he took Wim Duisenberg's place as president of the European Central Bank. (Most European Union leaders present at a 1998 special summit believed that Wim Duisenberg had agreed to a compromise with the French representatives and would step down from his office halfway through his eight-year term.)