By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-14 20:23:44 | Updated at 2024-11-22 03:56:56
1 week ago
Hedge Fund billionaire Scott Bessent has broken his silence on speculation he's the front runner to become Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary.
Bessent, praised by Trump as 'one of the top analysts on Wall Street,' told Fox News that 'the opportunity to be able to give back to the country would be incredible,' but that the decision still rested with Trump.
'It's all President Trump's decision, he made great decisions on the campaign. I can't wait for the four years,' he told the program.
Founder of Key Square Capital Management, Bessent has been a leading fundraiser for Trump during his recent campaign for a second term.
Bessent appears to be the front-runner in the race partly because of his close connections to Trump's economic advisors such as Larry Kudlow, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Scott [is] my first choice for Treasury. I'm a big fan,' Kudlow told the publication.
Bessent has also wracked up coveted endorsements for the position from other Wall Street household names.
'Scott Bessent is eminently more qualified than Howard Lutnick to run the U.S. Treasury. Scott understands markets, economics, people, and geopolitics better than anyone I've ever interacted with,' Kyle Bass, founder of Hayman Capital Management, argued on X.
Billionaire Scott Bessent has spoken about the possibility of becoming Treasury Secretary
Bessent has previously served as an economic advisor to Donald Trump
Bessent has publicly supported several of the President-elect's economic policies, including imposing higher tariffs on imports.
'I don't have to tell President Trump to do anything, he's already done it,' Bessent told Fox News on Thursday.
Hedge fund titan Stan Druckenmiller also spoke highly of Bessent, telling Axios he 'can't think of an area in global investing that he hasn't had to deal with.'
'We had a great economy under Trump 1.0 from 2016 to just when we hit the wall in Covid was one of the greatest periods in American history,' Bessent told Fox.
'I think under Donald Trump we could have a golden age for the next four years. We can bring back the manufacturing, we can have energy dominance... we're going to have this technology boom.'
The hedge fund boss previously told the FT that Trump's tariff plans were a 'maximalist' threat that could be negotiated with trading partners.
'It's escalate to de-escalate,' he told the publication.
He also previously told CNBC that he would want any tariffs to be 'layered in gradually' to allow any inflationary side effects to appear over time and be counteracted by other policies such as deregulation.
Bessent, who made his fortune alongside George Soros by betting against the Japanese yen, would hold significant influence over the nation's economy if confirmed as Treasury Secretary.
The role involves stabilizing America's economy and government bond market while advancing the president's economic policies.
'Think about the coalition that Donald Trump assembled, this is the greatest political comeback in history.
'It was a combination of working class Americans and Elon Musk, who else in the world could do that but Donald Trump,' Bessent told Fox News.
'I've had a great career, and the opportunity to be able to give back to the country would be incredible, with any way I can help' he added.
'It's all President Trump's decision, he made great decisions on the campaign. I can't wait for the four years.'
Another contender for Treasury Secretary is wealthy investor Howard Lutnick, who raised $75million for Trump and co-heads his transition effort.
Lutnick was one of the speakers at Trump's Madison Square Garden rally and has also spoken to Musk about cleaning up the government's financial efficiency.
'We're going to rip the waste out of our $6.5 trillion budget and we are going to then balance the budget ... we have offices we don't use, we have procurement waste at vast scale and I mean vast scale,' said Lutnick.
