With Trump promising sweeping tariffs on allies and adversaries alike, all eyes will be on how his new Treasury chief walks the line between supporting these efforts and fanning trade tensions that might roil the global economy.
The Treasury Department has oversight across a range of departments, from federal finances to bank supervision. The portfolio also oversees US sanctions.
Bessent has in recent times called for tax reform and deregulation to spur growth.
In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, he said this would be key to “restarting the American growth engine” and helping keep prices in check.
“ALL IN FOR TRUMP”
He has also defended Trump’s position on trade, saying on Trump ally Roger Stone’s radio show that the president-elect wants free trade but “we haven’t had fair trade, we haven’t had reciprocal trade”.
This month, Bessent called tariffs “a negotiating tool with our trading partners” in an opinion piece for Fox News, adding that it was “a means to finally stand up for Americans”.
Bessent, who is from South Carolina, attended Yale University and served as chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, the macroeconomic investment firm of billionaire George Soros.
In 2015, he raised capital, including US$2 billion from Soros, to start his own hedge fund.
In his interview with Stone, Bessent said that he has known the Trump family for 30 years and was friends with the president-elect’s brother.
“I was all in for President Trump. I was one of the few Wall Street people backing him,” he told Stone.
