1 week Ago By Alex Gangitano
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has stepped up his role on President Trump’s economic team, taking center stage on the president’s plans for tariffs.Bessent spearheaded the roll out of Trump’s 90-day pause on hefty tariffs on trading partners, briefly calming the markets amid increasing pressure from Wall Street for the trade team to shift gears towards negotiating.The Treasury secretary has emerged as the leading voice on trade, winning the microphone from top tariff hawks in the administration, including trade adviser Peter Navarro — a development that Republican lawmakers are cheering on vociferously.
“He is a voice that is reassuring and calm when it comes to the news of the day, particularly with regard to what’s happening in the economy and the issues on trade and taxes,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) told The Hill.
“I just think that people see him as somebody who speaks with credibility and in a tone that I think captures what the president’s trying to accomplish, but in a way that is not only understandable, but acceptable to the American people,” he added. One longtime GOP lobbyist added that Bessent, along with Kevin Hassett, the head of the National Economic Council, are the business community’s “great hope” in the administration to keep it from “fully going over the protectionist cliff” in what has already become an internal tug-of-war. While markets surged after the pause was announced, there’s still major turbulence that will likely remain with the 10 percent tariffs and exorbitant duties on China in place.
That was especially the case on Thursday as Wall Street kept up its post-Liberation Day sell-off. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped more than 1,000 points, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq fell more than three and four percent, respectively.When asked how people are feeling about the Trump tariffs with Bessent at the helm, one source close to Trump world replied, “Up, down all around.
Shaken and stirred — the Trump way.”Bessent, the founder and former CEO of hedge fund Key Square Group, was tasked with leading negotiations in which the White House says about 75 countries had already approached the administration to make a deal on tariffs. Bessent attributed that to the decision to impose the 90-day pause on the higher bracket of tariffs.
As soon as Trump announced the pause, Bessent and press secretary Karoline Leavitt emerged from the White House to explain the decision to the reporters.In a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Bessent took a victory lap while sitting across from the president.“Countries call me up — ‘Secretary Bessent, we’re happy you’re negotiating.
’ Well, President Trump is going to be negotiating too,” Bessent said, describing what he conveys to world leaders. It was clear Trump also relished in world leaders coming to him to strike a deal, telling Republican lawmakers at a campaign dinner the night before he imposed the pause that countries were essentially groveling to him.“These countries are all calling us up, kissing my ass.
They are dying to make a deal. ‘Please, please sir make a deal. I’ll do anything, I’ll do anything, sir,” Trump said.
The president on Thursday said Lutnick, who was a major part of the roll out of reciprocal tariffs, is also working on negotiations with trading partners. And, a White House official told The Hill that Bessent, as well as Lutnick and Navarro, are still involved in trade matters and that no one has been sidelined.While Bessent was active on tariffs this week, he also was on Capitol Hill meeting with GOP lawmakers about party unity and the Senate’s framework that will be used to enact key parts of Trump’s legislative agenda, which the House passed on Thursday morning.
That work has paid off, specifically with lawmakers who overwhelmingly believe in him with economic matters over the likes of Lutnick and Navarro. While describing that level of trust, one Senate Republican argued that at least 95 percent side with him, Hassett and U.S.
Trade Representative Jamieson Greer — adding that it’s possible that figure might even be too low. “He’s clever. He’s experienced.
He exercises power materially. He thinks before he speaks,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.
), who had lunch with Bessent earlier this week and knew him prior to his time at Treasury. “He understands that wisdom requires you to say nothing — not go on a news show and say stuff that you don’t know anything about [or] looks like something the dog brought up.” “With some of these economists, I listen to them talk and I think if you wanted to hide something from them you’d hide it in a book on economics,” Kennedy continued.
“I think he knows what he’s talking about. I’m not saying he’s perfect, but he doesn’t try to be clairvoyant in a way that undermines his integrity.” The White House defended the entire trade team in a statement.
“President Trump has assembled the best and most experienced trade and economic team in modern American history with unique insights from the private sector, government, and academia. Every member of the administration is aligned on playing from one playbook, President Trump’s playbook, to use tariffs and strike custom-tailored trade deals to finally end America’s national emergency of chronic trade deficits,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Hill.The idea of a 90-day pause was first publicly suggested by billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who said on Sunday that Trump should hit the brakes on implementing tariffs.
After the announcement, Ackman thanked the president on X and added, “@SecScottBessent rocks!”The corporate world sees Bessent as redeeming relative to the Trump loyalists, like Navarro and top adviser Stephen Miller.“The business community sees Peter Navarro and Stephen Miller as jeopardizing 200 years of economic growth and free enterprise. So anybody who pushes back even a little with the president, like Secretary Bessent, is going to be seen as a possible savior,” a GOP lobbyist told The Hill.
“Last time around there were lots of ‘normal’ voices like [former director of the national economic council] Gary Cohn, [former Treasury secretary] Steve Mnuchin , [former deputy national security adviser] Dina Powell and [former aide] Rob Porter to counter the Navarro-Miller view but Bessent doesn’t have nearly as many like-minded allies now,” the lobbyist added. Cohn, Mnuchin and Powell were all Goldman Sachs alums, making them major players on Wall Street before the Trump administration.And, while Wall Street expressed a collective sigh of relief on Wednesday when Bessent spearheaded the roll out, there are still questions over if he is a long-term market calmer or if the rally was a one time event.
Some Trump World sources say Trump doesn’t have a Wall Street heavy weight in his Cabinet in the second term. Bessent isn’t a market maker like JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, or even Apollo Global Management co-founder Marc Rowan, who was on Trump’s short list for Treasury Security, the source close to the White House said.“I think there’s some sense of, nice guy, but when my business is decimal points [are] different and I’m dealing with the impact of double digit losses .
.. he’s a small fish,” the source added.
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