Tipsheet

Trump Makes His Pick for Treasury Secretary

Matt Vespa
Matt Vespa  |  November 22, 2024 7:15 PM

President-elect Donald J. Trump announced that Scott Bessent will be nominated to head the Treasury Department, tasked with the monumental challenge of guiding the nation out of the mess left behind by Joe Biden and his band of incompetents. Bessent is currently one of Mr. Trump’s top economic advisers, and was reportedly pushed hard by Larry Kudlow (via WSJ): 

Donald Trump selected hedge-fund manager Scott Bessent to lead the Treasury Department, elevating one of the finance world’s most vocal supporters of the president-elect to a crucial position overseeing the incoming administration’s economic agenda. 

Bessent in recent months has become a key economic adviser to Trump and his team. He has defended Trump’s economic proposals in the midst of opposition from some on Wall Street, who worry that the president-elect’s pledge to impose sweeping tariffs will trigger trade wars and ultimately lead to higher prices for American consumers. 

[…] 

The longtime investor’s allies executed a behind-the-scenes campaign to persuade Trump to choose him for the Treasury post. Among his supporters was Larry Kudlow, who led the National Economic Council during Trump’s first term. Bessent for his part wrote an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal this month in which he rejected a group of Nobel laureates who warned that Trump’s economic agenda would harm the U.S. economy. 

Here's the statement: 

I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. Scott is widely respected as one of the World’s foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists. Scott’s story is that of the American Dream.

 

Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda. On the eve of our Great Country’s 250th Anniversary, he will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States, as we fortify our position as the World’s leading Economy, Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurialism, Destination for Capital, while always, and without question, maintaining the U.S. Dollar as the Reserve Currency of the World. Unlike in past Administrations, we will ensure that no Americans will be left behind in the next and Greatest Economic Boom, and Scott will lead that effort for me, and the Great People of the United States of America.

 

My Administration will restore Freedom, Strength, Resilience, and Efficiency to our Capital Markets. We will reinvigorate the Private Sector, and help curb the unsustainable path of Federal Debt. As a lifelong Champion of Main Street America and American Industry, Scott will support my Policies that will drive U.S. Competitiveness, and stop unfair Trade imbalances, work to create an Economy that places Growth at the forefront, especially through our coming World Energy Dominance. Together, we will Make America Rich Again, Prosperous Again, Affordable Again, and, most importantly, Great Again!
 

Scott K.H. Bessent

Bio: 

Scott K.H. Bessent is an American Investor, Philanthropist, and Educator. He is Founder and CEO of Key Square Group. Through his family office, Bessent controls a number of diversified operating businesses in industries including Agriculture, Hospitality, Publishing, and Real Estate. He has been in the Investment Management Business for over 35 years.

 

Born in Conway, South Carolina, Scott is a member of the French Huguenot Church of Charleston, where his family were founding members in the 1680s. Because of family economic anxiety, Scott took his first summer job at the age of nine. He attended Yale University, graduating in 1984. Scott was also an Adjunct Professor of Economic History at Yale.

 

Bessent’s philanthropy includes Financial and Mathematic Literacy, mentoring students at Harlem Children's Zone. He and his family donated the McLeod Rehabilitation Center at the Shriner's Children's Hospital in Greenville, South Carolina. Bessent serves on the Board of Rockefeller University. Also, he is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Club of New York.

 

Bessent has been involved in some the largest and most profitable trades in Hedge Fund History, including shorting the British pound and the Japanese yen, the Argentine debt reorganization, and MF Global Italian bonds liquidation. 

Trump now has the Big Four set up, with Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, Marco Rubio as secretary of state, Pam Bondi as attorney general, and Mr. Bessent at the treasury department.