WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen money manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction and deregulation, as his next Treasury secretary.
Bessent is a former Democratic supporter who has become an enthusiastic Trump supporter. He is in favor of cutting spending and extending the tax cuts that Congress passed during Trump’s first term.
Here are four things to know about the South Carolina billionaire who, if confirmed by the Senate, will manage the nation’s finances:
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He worked for George Soros and donated to democratic causes
Before becoming a donor and adviser to Trump, Bessent donated to various Democratic causes in the early 2000s, most notably during Al Gore’s presidential campaign. He also worked for George Soros, a strong supporter of the Democrats.
Bessent played an influential role in Soros’s investment activities in London, including his famous 1992 bet against the pound, which generated huge profits on “Black Wednesday,” when the pound was delinked from the European currency.
He regularly speaks about reducing the budget deficit while supporting an extension of Trump’s tax cuts
Bessent has supported extending the provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which Trump signed into law in his first year in office, although estimates from various economic analyzes of the costs of the various tax cuts range from nearly $6 trillion to $10 trillion dollars per year. 10 years.
Bessent is calling for cuts and shifts in existing taxes to offset the costs the tax extension would add to the federal deficit.
“That will be a negotiation with the Republican Congress,” Bessent told CNBC on November 6. “I’ve already had conversations with many of the Republicans who will chair these committees,” he said. “The Republican Congress has a big appetite for pay-fors. It will be a negotiation.”
He has spoken in media interviews about the need to tackle the national debt. “I really think these debts and deficits are going to be the big problem of the day. I think Americans are concerned about that.” He argues that consumer prices can be brought down “by starting a deficit reduction program.”
He views tariffs as a sanctioning instrument
During his campaign, Trump proposed a 60% tariff on goods from China – and a tariff of up to 20% on everything else the United States imports. Mainstream economists are generally skeptical of tariffs, viewing them as a largely inefficient way for governments to raise money and promote prosperity.
Bessent told Bloomberg in August that he views tariffs as a “one-time price adjustment” and “not inflationary,” and that any tariffs imposed during a second Trump administration would primarily target China. “I think in a sense tariffs can be considered an economic sanction without a sanction. If you don’t like the fact that Chinese economic policies are flooding the market with overproduction, you could impose a sanction or a tariff on it. It is also a response to currency manipulation.”
And he wrote in a Fox News op-ed this week that tariffs are “a useful tool to achieve the president’s foreign policy goals. Whether it’s pushing allies to spend more on their own defense, opening foreign markets to U.S. exports, securing cooperation in ending illegal immigration and banning the fentanyl trade, or deterring of military aggression: tariffs can play a central role.”
He told CNBC: “I would recommend phasing in the tariffs gradually.”
He would be the first openly gay Minister of Finance
If confirmed to the role, he would also be the first openly LGBTQ Senate confirmed Cabinet member in a Republican administration.
In 2020, Trump appointed Richard Grenell, who is openly gay, as acting director of national intelligence. However, the role was not subject to Senate confirmation.
In 2015, Bessent told the Yale Alumni Magazine: “If you had told me in 1984, when we were graduating college, and people were dying of AIDS, that 30 years later I would be legally married and we would have two children through surrogacy, then I would do that. you wouldn’t have believed it.”
Pete Buttigieg is the first openly Senate-confirmed LGBT Cabinet member, nominated by President Joe Biden to lead the Transportation Department.
