President Donald Trump has nominated gay billionaire investment manager Scott Bessent to be Treasury secretary.
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If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Bessent would be the first member to withdraw. LGBTQ+Community becomes Treasurer and one of the few people to hold a cabinet or cabinet-level position.
“Mr. Scott has long been a strong supporter of America First,” President Trump said in a statement Friday, confirming previous reports from several major news outlets that Mr. Bessent would be the Treasury nominee. “On the eve of our great nation’s 250th anniversary, he announced America’s new gold as we strengthen our position as the world’s leading economy, center of innovation and entrepreneurship, and destination for capital. It will help usher in the coming of age and, without question, maintain the US dollar as the world’s reserve currency.”
Mr. Bessent, 62, is the founder of Key Square Capital Management, a hedge fund. But his history may upset some in the MAGA crowd. Prior to founding Key Square, from 2011 to 2015 he was chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, a hedge fund founded by George Soros, and Mr. Bessent has held various positions since 1991. At one point, I worked at Soros’ company. Soros is a major donor to the Democratic Party and bete noir of the far right. Some right-wingers have claimed — falsely — that Soros is paying protesters to support liberal causes. But “I liked Trump.” [Bessent’s] The fact that he is a bona fide billionaire and turned to the MAGA movement after working for Soros. ” CNN I will report.
Bessent donated to Trump’s presidential campaign and advised him on economic policy. He has donated to other Republican politicians and is a longtime friend of Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, but he has also donated to Democrats such as Al Gore, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama. . He hosted a fundraising event for Gore’s presidential campaign in 2000.
“It has the potential to garner bipartisan support,” Bessent said. Associated Press However, some Democratic lawmakers have already expressed skepticism about him. “Donald Trump pretends to be an economic populist, but wealthy political donors have to run the show,” said Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. If so, it can’t be called the Trump Treasury Department.” New York Times. “When it comes to the economy, the Trump administration is a government of the super-rich, for the super-rich.”
Bessent has signaled support for a more moderate approach to tariffs than Trump, who has called for 60% tariffs on products from China and 10% to 20% on products from other countries. ” CNN reported. Many economists oppose flat tariffs because the costs would be passed on to consumers, raising prices.
The candidates also want to reduce the national debt, but most support extending parts of the Trump tax cut bill that are set to expire at the end of 2025. “Over 10 years, it’s going to be $6 trillion, $10 trillion,” the Associated Press reported.
He lives in South Carolina with his husband, John Freeman, a former New York City prosecuting attorney. they have two children. Mr. Bessent is the nephew of the late Rep. John Jenrette, a progressive Democrat from South Carolina who was disgraced in the mid-1980s scandal known as Abscam. It was a “two-year sting operation in which politicians and others were videotaped pretending to be wealthy Arabs and accepting bribes and favors from federal officials.” new york times Jenrette explained in Jenrette’s eulogy in 2023. Mr. Jenrette was convicted of federal charges of conspiracy and bribery and served a 13-month prison sentence.
Bessent becomes the first gay cabinet member to be confirmed by the Senate under a Republican administration. Richard Grenell, a gay Republican and longtime ally of President Trump, served as ambassador to Germany and acting director of national intelligence in Trump’s first administration. Although the director of national intelligence is not a member of the Cabinet, he is considered a Cabinet-level official, making Grenell the first openly gay person to do so. Because his post is temporary, Senate confirmation was not required. Pete Buttigieg, the Biden administration’s transportation secretary, was the first Cabinet member to be confirmed by the Senate.
Just because President Trump chose a gay man to be his Treasury secretary doesn’t mean his new administration won’t pose a threat to LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender people. Another candidate announced by the president-elect on Friday is more in line with the ideology of the Trump team. He chose Russell Vought to head the Office of Management and Budget, a position he held during the final months of the Trump administration after serving as deputy director and acting director. Vought is co-author of the thoroughly anti-LGBTQ+ Project 2025, a blueprint for a conservative administration that President Trump claims he knows nothing about.
After President Trump’s first term ended, Vought founded the Center for American Renewal with the mission of “renewing America’s consensus as a nation under God,” the report said. are. Website. “This organization has been engaged in the fight against the so-called.critical race theory,” LGBTQ rights, immigrationand voting rightsPresident Trump has raised money for the Center for American Renewal, according to the watchdog group Monitoring Influence.
Mr. Vaught’s previous experience includes working for Heritage Action for America, the lobbying arm of the Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation was the driving force behind Project 2025. He also worked for Mike Pence when Pence was a member of the House of Representatives and for Phil Gramm, another Republican, when Graham was a senator. And Vought even said the Federalist Society, a conservative legal group that has influenced President Trump’s judicial choices, isn’t conservative enough. new york timesNote.
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