Trump taps hedge fund mogul Scott Bessent as treasury secretary

Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent speaks at a campaign event for then Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Asheville, N.C., U.S. Aug. 14. Reuters-Yonhap

Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent speaks at a campaign event for then Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump in Asheville, N.C., U.S. Aug. 14. Reuters-Yonhap

President-elect Donald Trump officially nominated Scott Bessent as his treasury secretary Friday, describing the hedge fund mogul as a "strong" advocate of his America First agenda and vowing to usher in a "new golden age" for the United States.

Trump issued a statement on the designation of Bessent, the founder of Key Square Group, a global investment firm, as he reiterated his commitment to strengthening America's position as the "world's leading economy and center of innovation and entrepreneurialism" and to maintaining the U.S. dollar as the de facto global reserve currency.

"Scott is widely respected as one of the World's foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists. Scott's story is that of the American Dream," Trump said in the statement.

"Scott has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda. On the eve of our Great Country's 250th Anniversary, he will help me usher in a new Golden Age for the United States," he added.

The president-elect also said that if confirmed, Bessent will lead the effort to ensure that "no Americans will be left behind in the next and Greatest Economic Boom."

In addition, he said that Bessent will support his policies that will "drive U.S. competitiveness, stop unfair trade imbalances, work to create an economy that places growth at the forefront, especially through our coming world energy dominance."

"Together, we will Make America Rich Again, Prosperous Again, Affordable Again, and, most importantly, Great Again!" he said.

Bessent has been in the investment management business for over 35 years. He is a member of the French Huguenot Church of Charleston, where his family was founding members in the 1680s.

In 1984, he graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He served as an adjunct professor of economic history at Yale from 2006 to 2011.

Also on Friday, Trump nominated Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon as his secretary of labor.

"I look forward to working with her to create tremendous opportunity for American Workers, to expand Training and Apprenticeships, to grow wages and improve working conditions, to bring back our Manufacturing jobs," he said.

"Together, we will achieve historic cooperation between Business and Labor that will restore the American Dream for Working Families."

The president-elect also named Russell Vought as the director of the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Vought served in the same role in Trump's first term.

"Russ has spent many years working in Public Policy in Washington, D.C., and is an aggressive cost cutter and deregulator who will help us implement our America First Agenda across all Agencies," he said. (Yonhap)

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