President-elect Trump will nominate Scott Bessent, a financier focused on global macroeconomics, as his Treasury secretary, which would make him the incoming administration’s top economic official.

Why it matters: Bessent would bring to Treasury deep knowledge of bond and currency markets and a close relationship with Trump — as well as a surprising connection to hedge fund manager George Soros, mega-donor to liberal causes and bogeyman to the political right.

he spent most of his career at Soros Capital Management, including as chief investment officer from 2011 to 2015.

• Bessent has been an avid fundraiser for Trump and a defender of the president-elect in media appearances.
• Trump has threatened to impose high tariffs on all U.S. imports. Some economists have warned that such aggressive tariffs could reignite inflation.

In recent interviews, Bessent has tried to play down Trump’s trade threats.

• “The idea that he would recreate an affordability crisis is absurd,” Bessent told Axios’ Mike Allen in a phone interview this earlier this month.
• Bessent told Axios that Trump “regards himself as the mayor of 330 million Americans, and he wants them to do great, and have a great four years.”
• He also told the Financial Times last month that the tariffs were a starting point for negotiations with trading partners.
• “My general view is that at the end of the day, he’s a free trader,” Bessent told the FT.

The intrigue: Bessent has been critical of the Federal Reserve and will likely be a key voice as Trump selects his appointees to run the central bank.

Read More Here