President Donald Trump has named one of his biggest financial backers to be the top economic official in his second administration, naming Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary.
Mr. Bessent will be responsible for overseeing the president-elect’s most important economic pledges, including significant tax cuts, while maintaining stability in the world’s largest economy, the dollar and the most important bond market.
The hedge fund manager’s economic philosophy aims to bridge traditional free-market conservatism and Trump’s populism. He defended the president-elect’s repeated threats to raise tariffs against accusations that they would upend America’s relationships with allies and raise consumer prices, arguing that tariffs are a trade negotiation tool. He argued that it was a way to increase government revenue.
In a statement Friday, President Trump described Bessent as “one of the world’s leading international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists” and “widely respected.”
“He will always and unquestionably preserve the U.S. dollar and usher in a new golden age for America, while strengthening America’s position as the world’s leading economy, center of innovation and entrepreneurship, and destination for capital. “The world’s key currency. ”
Trump added that with Bessent at the helm, his administration will “help revitalize the private sector and limit unsustainable growth in the federal debt.”
Mr. Bessent will also be responsible for steering the administration’s sanctions policy, including sanctions against Russia over its all-out invasion of Ukraine and the rules governing Wall Street. His appointment must be approved by the U.S. Senate, where Republicans will hold a 53-47 majority next year.
President Trump on Friday night again selected Russell Vought to head the Office of Management and Budget. “Russ knows exactly how to dismantle the deep state and end weaponized government, and he will help us restore self-government to our people,” President Trump wrote. The president-elect also nominated Republican Rep. Lori Chavez Delemer of Oregon to be secretary of labor.
Wall Street bankers across the political spectrum were digesting the news of Mr. Bessent’s appointment. They pointed out that much depends on how much independence he must have to manage the economy.
A source at a major bank said Mr. Bessent has a strong pedigree in managing complex financial situations but was concerned that he would become a “puppet” of Mr. Trump.
“Mr. Bessent is a very seasoned investor with an impressive track record spanning several decades, but we are concerned that he lacks a lot of autonomy,” the trader said.
Mr. Bessent, 62, is a Wall Street veteran who has been one of Mr. Trump’s most vocal supporters and closest economic advisers in recent months.
This will be his first government job. He currently runs the hedge fund Key Square Capital Management. Bessent previously worked closely with billionaires George Soros and Stanley Druckenmiller.
Mr. Trump also brought along a Treasury secretary with Wall Street experience during his first term, when former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin held the post.
“No one understands the market better.” [than Bessent] Michael Faulkender, a finance professor at the University of Maryland, is a man with a worldwide position to be a vocal advocate for the next president’s economic policies and navigate the global economic challenges we need to face. He said the debt needs to be managed. He is chief economist at the Smith School of Business and the Trump-affiliated America First Policy Institute.
A top corporate lawyer and longtime Democratic donor said he was encouraged by President Trump’s decision. “[It is a] A wise choice that will reassure the financial community. The Treasury Department has worked well under President Mnuchin, and we expect Mr. Bessent to bring similar stability,” the lawyers said.
Apollo Global Management CEO Mark Rowan and former Federal Reserve chief Kevin Warsh, nominees for the Treasury Department, will be at Mar-a-Lago this week to meet with President Trump. visited. So did Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, who is also co-chair of Trump’s transition team. Fellow billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson was also a candidate before dropping out.
In a statement Friday, Paulson called Bessent an “outstanding pick.”
“He has the market experience and financial acumen to successfully implement President Trump’s economic policies.”
Bessent’s nomination, seen as a pragmatic choice, comes after a number of controversial appointments, including Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s appointment as defense secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s appointment as health secretary. It follows. The president-elect had also nominated former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz to lead the Justice Department, but Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration for the role.
Bessent, a Yale University graduate who grew up in South Carolina, will be at the helm of a robust U.S. economy. After the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades, inflation has steadily declined following an era of high interest rates. The unemployment rate remains at a historically low level of 4.1%, and personal consumption remains strong.
Many economists have warned that President Trump’s protectionist economic plan and promise to expel millions of immigrants and cut taxes could reignite inflation and slow growth, but Bessent said He strongly rejected the criticism.
In an October interview with the Financial Times, Bessent said tariffs were a “maximalist” threat that could be reduced during negotiations with trading partners. He also ruled out the possibility of the Trump administration devaluing the dollar.
“At the end of the day, my general view is that he is a free trader,” Bessent told the FT, referring to Trump. “It’s been escalating from escalating.”
But Mr. Bessent has floated more unconventional ideas, including taking steps to undermine the Fed’s longstanding independence.
He recently spoke with right-wing ideologue and Trump ally Steve Bannon, and he also suggested cutting government spending by $1 trillion over the next 10 years.
The Trump transition team also announced a series of health nominees. Marty McCurry, a Johns Hopkins University surgeon who made a name for himself by opposing vaccine mandates during the pandemic, has been chosen to head the Food and Drug Administration. FOX News contributor Janet Nesheiwat was named Surgeon General and physician, and former Republican Rep. Dave Weldon was chosen to head the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
