A billionaire hedge fund boss is positioning himself as Donald Trump’s treasury secretary.
Scott Bessent – who previously served as Trump’s economic adviser – is currently investigating potential candidates for an alternate role. The Financial Times reports this.
The news comes the day after JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, often called America’s most powerful banker, left himself out of consideration for the role.
Although Bessent has not confirmed that he is interested in joining Trump’s Cabinet, he hinted Wednesday that he was willing to do so.
“I’m going to do whatever President Trump asks,” he told CNBC when asked about serving in the government.
Bessent, founder of Key Square Capital Management, was a leading fundraiser for Trump during his recent campaign for a second term.
Billionaire Scott Bessent is positioning himself as the next Treasury Secretary, reports suggest
Sources told the FT that Bessent may be ‘pulling the curtains prematurely’ as it is unclear whether he has actually been offered the role of finance minister.
In fact, separate sources close to Bessant told DailyMail.com that the billionaire was only vetting candidates for deputy Treasury secretary because he was asked to do so by Trump’s team. It wasn’t intended to actually be his deputy, but for whoever ends up in the position.
“These talks were intended for someone who would help whoever takes on the role of finance minister,” the source said.
“Some people may have mistaken this for direct interviews, which was not the case.”
The Trump campaign has not yet commented on candidates for top positions in the new administration.
Bessent, praised by Trump as “one of the top analysts on Wall Street,” has publicly supported several of the newly elected president’s economic policies, including imposing higher tariffs on imports.
The hedge fund boss previously told the FT that Trump’s tariff plans posed a “maximalist” threat that could be negotiated with trading partners.
“It’s escalation to de-escalate,” he told the publication.
He also told CNBC that he would like any tariffs to be “phased in gradually” so that any inflationary side effects can emerge over time and be countered by other policies such as deregulation.
Bessent, who made his fortune with George Soros betting on the Japanese yen, would have significant influence on the country’s economy if appointed finance minister.
This role includes stabilizing the U.S. economy and Treasury market and advancing the President’s economic policies.
Bessent has sparked controversy in conservative circles for his role as a backer of right-wing book publisher All Seasons.
A lawsuit by conservative writer Lee Smith alleged that All Seasons, under Bessent, misled him by hiding the Soros link.
Smith’s book deal fell apart, leading to accusations that Bessent planned to censor conservative voices by paying for projects and then shelving them. Bessent denied this and dismissed Smith’s claims as a ‘shakedown’.
Earlier this year, Bessent said a rally in the stock market was linked to Trump advancing in the polls against Joe Biden.
Bessent previously served as an economic advisor to Donald Trump
Another candidate for Treasury Secretary is wealthy investor Howard Lutnick, who raised $75 million for Trump and is partly responsible for his transition efforts.
Lutnick was one of the speakers at Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden and has also spoken with Musk about cleaning up government financial efficiency.
“We’re going to take the waste out of our $6.5 trillion budget and then we’re going to balance the budget… we have offices that we’re not using, we have procurement waste on a massive scale and I mean massive scale,” Lutnick said.