If you felt a gust of wind from out of the Northeast on Friday evening, it was the collective sigh of relief coming from New York’s financial district over Donald Trump’s selection of Scott Bessent to lead Treasury. After a series of unorthodox Cabinet picks that shocked the policy world, the choice of the 62-year-old hedge fund executive is being praised by Wall Street heavyweights who had hoped the president-elect would select a more traditional candidate for his administration's most powerful economic post. While Bessent — once the chief investor at financier George Soros's firm — has been a vocal proponent of Trump’s agenda, he’s also viewed as a realist who will understand how policy shifts might ripple across markets and the global economy. “The biggest risk is that you have ideologues pursuing policy regardless of consequence,” said Unlimited Funds CEO Bob Elliott, who previously led research at hedge fund giant Bridgewater Associates. “The thing about a person who has run money for several decades is that they — almost by definition — have to be agile and responsive to market conditions. It's in their blood.” To be certain, Bessent — who had flown under the radar of many policymakers prior to this campaign — will face steep challenges if confirmed. Trump has promised to simultaneously cut taxes, impose universal tariffs and unlock economic growth by boosting domestic energy production and slashing regulations. Corporate America likes a lot of that message — in theory — but reshaping the economy to Trump’s specifications could also disrupt supply chains, drive up prices and send interest rates even higher. And it will be up to Bessent – who has no government experience – to sell markets, global leaders and the public on how it will all work. Still, Wall Street’s comfort with him stands in contrast to how industry has reacted to Trump’s controversial selection of former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for Attorney General before he withdrew or former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for Director of National Intelligence. One senior official in a previous administration described Bessent as “being in a different league” than some of other Trump picks, adding that “he's a respected figure in the macro hedge fund community who has been a successful financial operator.” The selection of Bessent follows a weeks-long process that people close to the transition have compared to The Hunger Games or the CBS reality contest Survivor (a program that shares creative DNA with Trump’s own former show, The Apprentice, in the form of producer Mark Burnett). As contenders circulated through Mar-a-Lago for interviews with Trump and his advisers, rumors swirled about new alliances, whose stock was climbing, and how each candidate might adhere to Trump’s sprawling economic policy vision. Why does that matter?: The backbiting and public sniping that slowed Trump’s selection of a Treasury secretary also sharpened the battle lines on economic policies that will define his second administration. Different factions of his coalition fought openly over which candidate was most supportive of universal tariffs, or had the firmest understanding of how Wall Street would react to protectionism and new government borrowing. The two-week fight over who would get the nod underscored the tough task Bessent would confront in the Treasury secretary’s job. Trump says he wants to generate “trillions” in revenue from new tariffs and to have “a say” in Federal Reserve interest rate decisions. He also wants to keep the stock market humming, crush inflation and impose massive cuts to both the budget and the federal workforce. Inevitably, his Treasury secretary will have to shoulder the conflicts and contradictions that arise from that agenda. While many in the financial services world celebrated Trump’s reelection, there has been underlying concern that his second administration could inject turbulence into the global economy. And investors are likely to have confidence in Bessent's understanding of the markets, said Josh Lipsky, the senior director of the Atlantic Council's GeoEconomics Center. Still, Bessent remains something of an unknown to many in public policy circles, and his leadership and political skills would be severely tested since he'd be spearheading major battles next year over the fate of Trump's tax cuts, the debt ceiling and potentially massive spending plans. The official biography released by the Trump-Vance Transition team on Friday night highlighted some of the successful trades that Bessent had a hand in shaping as a top investor for Soros, including the famous shorting of the British pound and a highly lucrative trade bet against the Japanese yen. (Of course, as The NYT’s Matthew Goldstein noted, the release did not directly refer to Soros. The Democratic megadonor’s name is politically toxic in right-wing circles.) Put another way: If confirmed, one Wall Street CEO told POLITICO that Bessent “would be amongst the most market savvy Treasury secretaries we’ve ever experienced.” Bessent’s financial industry credentials aren’t earning him any praise on the left. “Wall Street may be breathing a sigh of relief at Scott Bessent’s nomination, but working people see no help coming their way,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren says in a new statement out this morning. “Mr. Bessent’s expertise is helping rich investors make more money, not cutting costs for families squeezed by corporate profiteering.” Still, the Massachusetts Democrat says she plans to meet with Bessent before his confirmation hearing. “I do not know if Mr. Bessent will transfer his loyalty from Wall Street investors to America’s workers, but I am willing to work with anyone to advance the interests of working families,” she said. IT’S MONDAY — It’s a short week but it’ll be newsy. As always, you can reach me at ssutton@politico.com and @samjsutton.
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