Bessent to Meet with Trump as Treasury Job Hangs in the Balance

(Bloomberg) — President-elect Donald Trump will meet with Key Square Group LP founder Scott Bessent on Friday, according to a person familiar, as he weighs a short-list of contenders to be his next Treasury secretary amid a battle for the crucial cabinet position.

The two will meet at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private meeting. The meeting was first reported by the Washington Post.

The meeting comes as Trump is still weighing candidates including Bessent, Cantor Fitzgerald LP CEO Howard Lutnick and Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s first-term trade adviser, according to people familiar with the matter. The president-elect could announce his Treasury decision as soon as this week.

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In recent days, the contest for the top economic job has intensified — and spilled into public view — a development that threatens to rankle a president-elect who has sought to avoid infighting over titles and the disorder that were often hallmarks of his first administration. 

The lobbying and posturing for the Treasury job has made the process somewhat chaotic, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Bessent was a prominent advocate for the president-elect during the campaign and has garnered the support of a wide range of leaders across Trump’s coalition, including longtime allies Steve Bannon and Ralph Reed.

On Friday, in a Fox News op-ed, Bessent publicly aligned himself with Trump’s trade policies, writing that “tariffs have a long and storied history as both a revenue-raising tool and a way of protecting strategically important industries in our country.”

That followed a Thursday interview with Fox News’ Fox and Friends — an outlet that has provided a platform for potential second-term picks to raise their profile — where Bessent praised Trump’s economic agenda as one that would help grow diverse sectors of the economy.

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Lutnick, who is also the co-chair of Trump’s transition team, however, is pushing back on Bessent and is making a play for the job himself, according to people familiar, raising concerns that the hedge fund manager is soft on protectionist pledges such as tariffs, a key element of Trump’s populist platform.

Earlier: Bessent Earns Endorsements, Lutnick Jockeys for Treasury Post

Lutnick has been staying physically close to the president-elect as he ponders his decision, with the Wall Street executive sitting at the same table as Trump at the Thursday night gala at Mar-a-Lago, the people said.

Here’s how Trump’s transition is shaping up on Friday:

Burgum for Interior

Trump is expected to make a formal announcement that he is tapping North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum for Interior secretary.

The president-elect revealed the pick last night during remarks at a gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, saying that a formal announcement had been intended for Friday. 

“He’s going to head the Department of Interior, and he’s going to be fantastic,” Trump said.

Burgum, 68, ran a long-shot bid for the Republican nomination before dropping out and endorsing Trump. A technology entrepreneur and venture capital investor, his home of North Dakota is an energy rich state. Burgum has been an advocate for boosting domestic energy production. 

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