Trump’s Cabinet selects Burgum, Zeldin and Bessent and faces Senate confirmation hearings

Trump’s Cabinet selects Burgum, Zeldin and Bessent and faces Senate confirmation hearings

President-elect Trump nominated Scott Bessent to be secretary of the Treasury Department in November.

“I am very pleased to appoint Scott Bessent as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States,” he said. “Scott is widely respected as one of the world’s leading international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists. Scott’s story is one of the American dream.”

Trump said that Bessent would help achieve the “Golden Age for the United States” and that he would focus on improving the economy and preserving the dollar.

“Scott has long been a strong supporter 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 solidify our position as the world’s leading economy. Center for innovation and entrepreneurship, destination for capital, always and without question maintaining the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency,” he said. “Unlike previous administrations, we will ensure that no American is 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.”

Bessent, the founder and CEO of global macro investment firm Key Square Group, was a key economic policy adviser and fundraiser for the Trump campaign.

He is a supporter of economic policies such as lower taxes, spending restraints and deregulation that have long been at the core of the Republican Party’s platform, and also supports Trump’s use of tariffs in trade negotiations.

At a Manhattan Institute event earlier this year, Bessent suggested that Trump pursue a three-point plan that would target 3% economic growth, reduce the deficit to 3% of U.S. gross domestic product and increase domestic energy production by 3 million barrels of oil per day.

He also supported Trump’s plan to reduce regulations on cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Bessent has also argued that mass deportations of illegal immigrants would be less costly than the status quo, given the costs of crime and fentanyl deaths.

Bessent previously taught at Yale University. From 1991 to 2005, he worked at Soros Fund Management (SFM), first as a partner and eventually as head of the firm’s London office. After starting his own company and working at another company, he returned to SFM as chief investment officer from 2011 to 2015, before leaving to start his investment firm, Key Square Group.

Read more about Scott Bessent by Eric Revell, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Louis Casiano.

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