US President-elect Donald Trump named the future Treasury Secretary in his administration: Scott Bessent is a billionaire, investor, and Trump’s economic advisor.
“My Administration will restore the freedom, strength, stability and efficiency of capital markets. We will revitalize the private sector and help curb the unsustainability of the Federal debt,” Trump wrote when announcing his nominee for Treasury Secretary.
As the BBC Russian Service recalls, Scott Bessent is a native of South Carolina, graduated from Yale University and began his career at Brown Brothers Harriman, one of the oldest investment companies in the United States. He rose to fame in the 1990s when he bet against the British pound and the Japanese yen. During this time, Bessent worked for George Soros, a major donor to the Democratic Party. In 2011, Bessent was hired by Soros as chief investment officer of his Soros Fund Management. Four years later, Bessent founded his own fund, Key Square Capital Management. He also taught economic history at Yale University, was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and was a trustee of the Rockefeller Institute. Once a major donor to the Democratic Party, Bessent has unconditionally backed Trump and his economic policies in 2024. During the campaign, he told voters that Trump would usher in “a new golden age of deregulation, cheap energy and low taxes.”
The new head of the Ministry of Finance will have to deal with many serious problems. One of them is the tax breaks introduced during Trump’s first term in the White House. In an interview with Fox News shortly before the election, Bessent said his top priority was not letting the tax breaks expire. Another issue is the changes in trade policy promised by Donald Trump: the president-elect said that he would introduce large-scale tariffs on all goods imported into the country.
Bessent is an ardent supporter of the crypto industry. If his candidacy is approved by the Senate, then Bessent has every chance of becoming the first finance minister to openly support cryptocurrencies.
Economists note that the new finance minister will have to face serious challenges. In particular, it is his department that is responsible for enforcing the sanctions policy against Russia, the BBC recalls. And if Trump starts new trade wars with China, Mexico or Europe, Bessent will have to calm financial markets.
Despite his unconditional loyalty to Trump, many call Bessent a moderate candidate. After the election, he proposed discussing Trump’s tax proposals in Congress and said that any tariff changes should be introduced gradually.