President Donald Trump is planning to announce that he will nominate hedge manager Scott Bessent to lead the Treasury Department, according to multiple reports.
If confirmed, Bessent, 62, would ascend to one of the most powerful Cabinet positions at the White House, overseeing the country’s fiscal and economic policy. Bessent will be tasked with implementing Trump’s economic agenda, which includes a ramp-up in tariffs and further tax cuts.
Bessent is a well-known hedge fund manager who founded the New York-based investment firm Key Square Group. Some Trump advisers began pushing for his nomination shortly after the president-elect won the election.
The South Carolina native and Yale University graduate joined Soros Fund Management in the 1980s and worked his way up the totem pole at the firm before leaving in 2015 as its chief investment officer. He then founded Key Square Group.
Bessent, well regarded on Wall Street, is an even-keeled pick, and his choice will likely be welcomed by the markets and investors, who crave stability and certainty.
Bessent has donated to candidates of both major parties over the years, including hosting a fundraiser for then-presidential contender Al Gore in 2000. He has grown increasingly close to Trump in recent years, donating $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee after the president-elect’s first win in 2016.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Bessent is a close economic adviser to Trump and has urged Trump to embrace a “3-3-3” policy, which would mean pushing for 3% gross domestic product growth, cutting the deficit to 3% of gross domestic product by 2028, and increasing energy production by the equivalent of 3 million barrels of oil per day.
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Trump has praised Bessent and, in a speech before the Detroit Economic Club, referred to him as “one of the top analysts on Wall Street.”
Bessent beat out former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh, Marc Rowan of Apollo Global, and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) for the highly coveted role.
