Inside the fierce battle to become Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary
The world’s richest man tried to kill Scott Bessent’s bid to become Treasury Secretary less than a week ago.
Last Saturday, billionaire businessman and Donald Trump confidant Elon Musk said the appointment of the Wall Street investor as Treasury Secretary would be “business as usual.”
After Musk’s tweet about X, Bessent odds The likelihood of getting a job on prediction exchange Polymarket has decreased.
The next day, the president-elect’s transition team launched its search, targeting three new candidates, Apollo Global chief Marc Rowan, former Federal Reserve official Kevin Warsh and Tennessee senator Bill Hagerty.
Rowan, who was in Hong Kong, cut short his trip to Asia so he could be interviewed by Trump. He spoke at a conference Tuesday alongside executives from Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, then boarded a private jet for an 18-hour flight so he could be at Trump’s mansion in Mar- a-Lago on Wednesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Hagerty accompanied Trump and Musk to the latest SpaceX launch in Texas, fueling speculation that he is emerging as the preferred candidate. This, as Warsh, a rising star in Republican economic policymaking circles, began to emerge as a popular choice on Wall Street.
But those three new candidates are mere sideshows in the battle for the top cabinet position running the world’s largest economy. By Friday, Trump had gone full circle and selected Bessent, the South Carolina hedge fund manager, as his pick.
Trump’s choice seems to signal that he, and not Musk or anyone else seeking to influence him, will make the big decisions.
“Scott is widely respected as one of the world’s leading international investors, economic and geopolitical strategists,” said the President-elect. “He will help me usher in a new golden age for America.”
The infighting between candidates for the Treasury position has been extremely fierce in just a few short days, making Bessent’s return all the more dramatic.
At one point, his critics began circulating chat group documents – seen by the Financial Times – purporting to show the poor performance of his Key Square Group hedge fund.
Others question Bessent’s close ties to George Soros, the liberal hedge fund veteran he worked for and later sought funding from Key Square. Several people, including Musk, have backed Howard Lutnick, a fellow Wall Street investor who co-led Trump’s transition team and put his name forward for the Treasury role.
The Bessent camp retaliated by sharing a new set of documents – reviewed by the FT – asserting that Key Square had outsized profits, especially during the pandemic, a sign that the hedge fund manager have the skills to overcome difficult economic conditions.
As the rhetoric became sharper, some Republican donors and those involved in the selection process privately complained about Lutnick’s behavior, saying he was too rude and outspoken for a position that requires discipline in market management. One person close to Trump went so far as to accuse Lutnick of “using his position to put his candidacy above others”.
Trump’s careful selection of the Treasury Department shows a level of uncertainty that he has not yet demonstrated in his other choices, which came quickly after his election victory on November 19. November 5.
Trump knows he cannot afford a misstep. He must find someone who sticks to the populist economic policies he advocated on the campaign trail, including sweeping tariffs.
But he also needed someone he could trust to protect the measure he cared about most: the U.S. stock market.
When considering this decision, Trump also refused all nominations for other important economic positions, including director of the National Economic Council, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, secretary of commerce. and the United States trade representative.
But by Tuesday, one piece of the puzzle was in place. Lutnick will be Secretary of Commerce, who will have far-reaching responsibilities, including export controls. Trump said that Lutnick would also have oversight of USTR, the agency that runs U.S. trade policy that usually has its own role within the cabinet.
Sensing an opportunity, billionaire financiers in Trump’s orbit lobbied Rowan, some texting him directly to the president in support. Financial figures in Trump’s inner circle also made headlines, as did a member of Trump’s family.
People close to Rowan told the FT he was interested in taking on the role, and many Apollo executives are starting to believe he could leave the company he has built into a fortune. giant assets worth 700 billion dollars.
A person with knowledge of the matter said the billionaire investor’s meeting with Trump went well on Wednesday, but Rowan also made it clear that while he was honored to serve the incoming president, he will not be one to agree. That independence may have hurt his candidacy, a person close to him said.
By Thursday, it was clear it would be a race between Warsh and Bessent. A free trader with traditional views on the need for a strong US dollar and an independent Fed, Warsh is seen as a potential counterweight to some of Trump’s more radical plans for the economy. economy. He has also made clear that his priority is to become Fed chair after Jay Powell steps down in May 2026.
According to people briefed on the matter, Lutnick’s camp also supports Warsh. One option floated is for Warsh to continue in the role until the Fed seat opens, they added. But that plan seemed too complicated, paving the way for Bessent to return to pole position.
His bid was boosted by the support of powerful people in Maga circles, especially Steve Bannon, Trump’s former political strategist, and Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator from South Carolina, as well as reinforced his stature as a consensus candidate.
The accolades have come in, including from Larry Kudlow, the former director of Trump’s National Economic Council, who told the FT that Bessent was “absolutely first-rate” and an “outstanding choice”. But others lamented the decision.
One influential investor says Rowan would be a better choice. “Marc manages almost a trillion dollars, he is the smartest guy on Wall Street and populists are afraid of smart people,” the investor said. “Bessent will likely follow Trump’s lead.”
Yet, as Trump hopes, there is still feeling relief Among many Wall Street investors, some took to Musk’s X social media page to show their support.
“Scott will be a powerful liberating tool in Trump’s economic plan, while remaining vigilant against the enemies of our great country,” investor Kyle Bass wrote.