What to know about Scott Bessent, Trump's pick for treasury secretary

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen money manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction and deregulation, to serve as his next treasury secretary.

Bessent is a past supporter of Democrats who has become an enthusiastic supporter of Trump. He’s an advocate of cutting spending while extending the tax cuts approved by Congress in Trump’s first term.

Here are four things to know about the South Carolina billionaire who, if confirmed by the Senate, will manage the nation's finances:

He worked for George Soros and donated to Democratic causes

Before becoming a Trump donor and adviser, Bessent donated to various Democratic causes in the early 2000s, notably Al Gore’s presidential run. He also worked for George Soros, a major supporter of Democrats.

Bessent had an influential role in Soros’ London investment operations, including his famous 1992 bet against the pound, which generated huge profits on “Black Wednesday,” when the pound was de-linked from European currencies.

He speaks regularly about deficit reduction, while supporting extending Trump's tax cuts

Bessent has backed extending provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which Trump signed into law in his first year in office, though estimates from various economic analysis of the costs of the various tax cuts range between nearly $6 trillion and $10 trillion over 10 years.

Bessent calls for spending cuts and shifts in existing taxes to offset the costs that the tax extension would add to the federal deficit.

“That’s going to be a negotiation with the Republican Congress," Bessent told CNBC on Nov. 6. “I’ve already been in conversations with a lot of the Republicans who will chair those committees," he said. "The Republican Congress, there's a big appetite for pay-fors. It will be a negotiation.”

He has in media interviews spoken about the need to tackle the nation's debt. “I do think this debt and deficit is going to be the big issue of the day. I think Americans are worried about it." He argues that consumer prices can be brought down "by starting with a deficit reduction program.”

He views tariffs as a sanctions tool

Trump on the campaign trail proposed a 60% tariff on goods from China — and a tariff of up to 20% on everything else the United States imports. Mainstream economists are generally skeptical of tariffs, considering them a mostly inefficient way for governments to raise money and promote prosperity.

Bessent told Bloomberg in August that he views tariffs as a “one time price adjustment” and “not inflationary," and tariffs imposed during a second Trump administration would be directed primarily at China. "I think that tariffs in a way can be regarded as an economic sanction without a sanction. If you don't like Chinese economic policy, flooding the market with over production, you could put a sanction on them, or a tariff. Its also an answer to currency manipulation.”

And he wrote in a Fox News op-ed this week that tariffs are “a useful tool for achieving the president’s foreign policy objectives. Whether it is getting allies to spend more on their own defense, opening foreign markets to U.S. exports, securing cooperation on ending illegal immigration and interdicting fentanyl trafficking, or deterring military aggression, tariffs can play a central role.”

He told CNBC that “I would recommend that tariffs be layered in gradually."

He would be the first openly gay treasury secretary

If confirmed to the role, he would also be the first openly LGBTQ Senate-confirmed cabinet member in a Republican administration.

In 2020, Trump named Richard Grenell, who is openly gay, acting director of national intelligence. However, the role was not subject to Senate confirmation.

In 2015, Bessent told the Yale Alumni Magazine: “If you had told me in 1984, when we graduated, and people were dying of AIDS, that 30 years later I’d be legally married and we would have two children via surrogacy, I wouldn’t have believed you.”

Pete Buttigieg is the first openly LGBT Senate-confirmed Cabinet member, nominated by President Joe Biden to lead the transportation department.