President-elect Donald Trump launched a blitz of picks for his firm, but took his time before choosing a billionaire investor Scott Bessent as his nominee for Treasury Secretary.

The Republican wanted not only someone who agreed with him, but also a manager capable of implementing his economic vision and coming straight out of central casting. With his studies at Yale University and his experience trading for Soros Fund Management before creating his own funds, Bessent will be tasked with a delicate balancing act.

Trump expects him to help restore the global trade order, deliver multitrillion-dollar tax cuts, ensure inflation remains under control, manage a skyrocketing national debt and to maintain the confidence of the financial markets.

“Scott will support my policies that will boost America’s competitiveness, end unfair trade imbalances, and work to create an economy that puts growth first, especially through our coming global energy dominance,” Trump said in a statement. press release.

But for all that confidence, Trump was cautious in choosing the 62-year-old, a sign that he understood the stakes after winning a presidential election largely driven by inflation that hit a four-decade high in 2022. He felt comfortable making faster decisions on Fox News host Pete Hegseth for the Secretary of Defense, the senator from Florida. Marco Rubio for the Secretary of State and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

His choice of Bessent went against the billionaire’s opinion Elon Muskwho co-leads Trump’s advisory committee known as the “Department of Government Effectiveness” initiative. The Tesla and SpaceX boss posted on his social media site X before Trump’s selection that Bessent would be “a status quo choice.”

Bessent caught Trump’s attention during the campaign with his ideas of 3 percent growth, a reduced budget deficit equal to 3 percent of gross domestic product and 3 million additional barrels per day of oil production. Critics around Trump said Bessent was weak on tariffs.

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Republished with permission from the Associated Press.

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