The City of London’s mouthpiece Financial Times published an article on Nov. 12, in which they profile what they assert are the two leading contenders for Treasury Secretary in the incoming Trump administration. “Wall Street investors Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick are the leading contenders to be Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary after hedge fund billionaire John Paulson dropped out of the race for the job,” says FT. Bessent is “a former chief investment officer at George Soros’s family office, (and) Cantor Fitzgerald chief executive Lutnick, who is also co-chair of the Trump transition team.” Cantor Fitzgerald is one of the 24 primary Fed traders, giving it enormous influence over the U.S. (and international) financial system.
FT notes that the Soros connection may mean trouble for Bessent in some Trump circles. Bessent, chief of Key Square Capital Management, appeared on Steve Bannon’s podcast on Nov. 12 and called for massive cuts in the federal budget: “I think if we could get $100 billion a year over 10 years that scores at $1 trillion in this cockamamie CBO scoring that’ll stabilize the bond market and we can go from there. It’s an incredible opportunity.” Bessent also called for “a big push in bank deregulation,” adding unconvincingly that “I’m a Wall Street guy who loves Main Street.”
