SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
President-elect Trump has announced that hedge fund manager Scott Bessent is his choice for Treasury secretary. NPR's chief economic correspondent, Scott Horsley, joins us. Scott, thanks so much for being with us.
SCOTT HORSLEY, BYLINE: Good morning. Happy to be here.
SIMON: And what can you tell us about Scott Bessent?
HORSLEY: Well, he's not super well known. He runs a hedge fund, the Key Square Group. He also spent a number of years working for billionaire Democratic donor, George Soros. In fact, when he went out and lost his own fund, Soros was an investor. But he has been a big cheerleader for the Trump agenda. He's been writing op-eds in the Wall Street Journal and on the Fox News website. He's also a longtime friend of Vice President-elect JD Vance. Trump has described Bessent as one of the top analysts on Wall Street and a nice-looking guy, too. He does have a sort of distinguished silver-haired gravitas that Trump often looks for. Bessent is originally from South Carolina, and he and his husband spend most of their time there.
SIMON: What kind of reception is Scott Bessent likely to get in the Capitol?
HORSLEY: Well, he'll probably get a friendly reception from the new GOP Congress, if he's confirmed. One of his first jobs will be getting an extension of Trump's 2017 tax cuts, parts of which are set to expire next year. He'll likely be pushing on an open door when it comes to cutting taxes, although that would probably add to the federal debt, which we learned just yesterday has now surpassed $36 trillion. Bessent has also championed Trump's call for deregulation and for increased domestic energy production as a way to bring down costs.
SIMON: Course, tariffs are another big part of Trump's economic platform. What has Scott Bessent said about that?
HORSLEY: Yeah, Bessent has defended Trump's proposal to slap taxes on all imports, even though most economists say that would likely raise prices for U.S. businesses and consumers. Unlike some of the others in Trump's orbit, though, Bessent doesn't seem to be a dyed-in-the-wool protectionist. In an interview with the Financial Times last month, he suggested that Trump views tariffs as a bargaining chip and said, quote, "my general view is that at the end of the day, he's a free trader." So we'll see about that.
SIMON: Of course, the Treasury secretary typically works closely with the Federal Reserve. What do you foresee there?
HORSLEY: Well, you know, that could be a source of some friction. You know, Trump has frequently criticized the Fed chairman, Jerome Powell, even though he appointed him to the chairman's post. Trump thinks Powell and his colleagues were too quick to raise interest rates the last time Trump was in the White House and too quick to lower interest rates in the run-up to this fall's election. The Fed is supposed to be insulated from political pressure from the White House, but Trump has repeatedly flouted that norm. And Bessent went so far as to suggest that Trump name a shadow Fed chairman to sort of undermine Powell, although he later walked that back. Now, Powell is set to remain as Fed chairman into 2026 and says he's not going anywhere. Powell is a staunch defender of the Fed's independence. He's also a savvy politician, though, and he's trying very hard not to antagonize the incoming administration.
SIMON: Scott, please tell us about some of the other economic nominations that were announced last night.
HORSLEY: Yeah, Trump said that he plans to name Russell Vought to be White House budget director. That's a post that Vought held in the first Trump administration, where he tried to cut a lot of costs. He's also been one of the key architects of that Project 2025 blueprint. For labor secretary, Trump says he plans to nominate Oregon Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer. She is a Republican who represents a swing district and actually compiled a pretty moderate record in her one term in office. She lost her bid for reelection earlier this month.
SIMON: NPR's Scott Horsley. Thanks so much.
HORSLEY: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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