Nov. 22 (UPI) — President-elect Donald Trump on Friday announced hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as his choice for treasury secretary and first-term official Russell Vought to head the Office of Management and Budget.
Bessent, a 62-year-old billionaire, is the founder of Key Square Capital Management and a strong proponent of corporate deregulation. cutting taxes and reducing the national debt.
“Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda,” Trump wrote in making the announcement. “On the eve of our Great Country’s 250th Anniversary, he will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States, as we fortify our position as the World’s leading Economy, Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurialism, Destination for Capital, while always, and without question, maintaining the U.S. Dollar as the Reserve Currency of the World.”
The South Carolina native has also voiced support for Trump’s proposed stiff import tariffs, which many mainstream economists and Vice President Kamala Harris have predicted will amount to a national “sales tax” on U.S. families and renewed inflation if implemented.
Instead, he called such concerns “absurd” in a Fox News column last week, pointing out that Trump’s first-term tariffs on a limited range of Chinese imports did not cause inflation.
“Used strategically, tariffs can increase revenue to the Treasury, encourage businesses to restore production and reduce our reliance on industrial production from strategic rivals,” he wrote.
Vought, meanwhile, also served as OMB director in Trump’s first term when he was tasked with developing the president’s budget request and leading his deregulatory efforts.
Known as a close Trump ally and hardline Republican partisan, Vought was a key contributor to the Project 2025 conservative blueprint for the president-elect’s second term.
“He did an excellent job serving in this role in my First Term — We cut four Regulations for every new Regulation, and it was a Great Success!” Trump said in a Truth Social post.