President-elect Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary pick stands in stark contrast to some of the more controversial and questionable Cabinet picks he’s announced so far. Scott Bessent won’t freak out Wall Street, the industry he’s set to oversee.
Treasury secretary is a serious job for a serious person who can meet immediate deadlines and pressures weighing on the financial markets from around the globe. In many respects, the Treasury secretary is the quarterback of the economy.
A radical selection could’ve rattled investors and added risk to Trump’s already complex economic agenda.
Wall Street was unfazed by the selection. Some applauded it.
“Scott Bessent has been considered by many observers to be one of the most respected and competent contenders,” said Judge Glock, a Manhattan Institute senior fellow. “He has maintained his ties to traditional business and financial groups as well as to Trump loyalists.”
In other words, Trump did not pick the Matt Gaetz or Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., of Wall Street to run Treasury.
That doesn’t mean that Bessent will push back on Trump’s policies, including higher and across-the-board tariffs, large-scale tax cuts or mass deportation of undocumented immigrants. Bessent is a relatively recent MAGA convert who founded hedge fund Key Square and previously worked as chief investment officer for Soros Fund Management. Last week, he wrote an op-ed on Fox News last week in support of Trump’s policy.
But Glock said Bessent would serve as a steady hand guiding the economy.
“On the issue that most sharply divides Trump and traditional business leaders – tariffs – Bessent has focused on tariffs’ value as a tool to encourage better deals with trading partners, which has a long and bipartisan history,” Glock noted.
One of the Treasury secretary’s jobs is to help keep Wall Street calm and confident during times of economic or market turmoil. In other words: Prevent a blip from becoming a panic. That’s why Bessent had been widely viewed as the frontrunner for the job before he ultimately claimed it.
Some parts of Trump’s circle, including Elon Musk, were publicly advocating for a disruptor in the role – namely Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, who Musk said “will actually enact change,” unlike Bessent who would be “business as usual.” Lutnick was ultimately selected for Commerce secretary – an important but ultimately less critical role for make-or-break decision-making in the marketplace.
A steady demeanor, a key trait of a successful Treasury secretary, likely served as a factor in Trump’s ultimate choice to go with Bessent.