How Soros protege went from Hillary Clinton donor to Trump’s Treasury secretary pick

Washington: In the heat of the 2000 presidential campaign, Democratic candidate vice president Al Gore took a break from barnstorming battleground states to attend a fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee in East Hampton, New York. Standing behind Gore onstage was Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager and – at the time – a major donor to Democrats who cohosted the event at his home.

On Saturday AEDT, Bessent was tapped by president-elect Donald Trump to be his Treasury secretary. Having won the trust of Trump and his inner circle, Bessent would lead a Republican economic agenda of cutting taxes, culling federal regulations and enacting sweeping tariffs.

As Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent would help Donald Trump as he attempts to remake the US economy.Credit: AP

The selection caps an extraordinary career arc for an investor who was once a protege of liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros and gave money to top Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Barack Obama.

“He was very supportive of the causes and the people that we supported,” said Will Trinkle, a Democrat who cohosted the event with Gore. He noted that Bessent, who would be the first openly gay Treasury secretary, was a strong advocate for gay rights and marriage equality.

If confirmed by the Senate, Bessent would help Trump as he attempts to remake the US economy. As Treasury secretary, Bessent would work to steer tax cuts through Congress, lead trade negotiations with China and help cull federal regulations that Trump believes are stifling the economy.

Bessent, 62, declined to be interviewed. But friends and former colleagues described him as driven by data and intellectually curious, with an ability to work with people from across the ideological and political spectrum.

Raised in a fishing village in South Carolina, Bessent is the son of a real estate developer who experienced several financial booms and busts. He went on to Yale University, where he was class treasurer, wrote for The Yale Daily News and wanted to become a journalist.

In college, Bessent reflected on the challenges of being a Southerner in New England, writing in the paper in 1981: “I was the only one in the dorm who was heartbroken when George Wallace decided not to run for president.”

Bessent studied political science but ended up working in finance after getting an internship with Jim Rogers, an investor and business partner of Soros’. In the 1990s, he worked as a partner at Soros Fund Management, gaining notoriety by betting against the British pound and earning the firm $US1 billion. After leaving to start his own fund, Bessent returned in 2011 to become Soros’ chief investment officer.

By then, Bessent had become a major donor to Republican candidates. According to a summary of his donations provided by his office, Bessent has given about $US15 million ($23 million) to political causes over the years, and all but $US300,000 has gone to Republicans. He gave $US1 million to Trump’s inauguration in 2016.

Scott Bessent has said he sees Donald Trump as a “stock that goes up on bad news”.Credit: Bloomberg

Bessent was not part of Trump’s political orbit during his first campaign or term as president but has known the Trump family for decades and was close friends with the president-elect’s late brother, Robert.

This past spring, when many business leaders were hesitant to back Trump publicly as his legal troubles mounted, Bessent took a different view. He saw Trump as a “stock that goes up on bad news”, as he explained it to political analyst Mark Halperin last month, because every apparent setback appeared to strengthen his candidacy.

Concerned about the exploding national debt and the need to change the international trading system, Bessent set up a meeting with Trump and started exchanging economic policy ideas.

In recent months, Bessent has pitched a “3-3-3” plan that would aim for 3 per cent economic growth, reduce the budget deficit to 3 per cent of gross domestic product and increase domestic oil production by 3 million barrels per day. He also came up with an idea that would allow the president to essentially sideline the chair of the Federal Reserve, although he has backed down from that proposal in the face of opposition.

In some policy areas, Bessent has demonstrated an inclination to temper Trump’s economic impulses. He suggested that Trump’s idea of assigning a 15 per cent tax rate to companies that produce their products in the US could run afoul of international trade laws. And he has described Trump’s plan for blanket tariffs as a “maximalist” negotiating strategy, suggesting that tariffs should be phased in to give markets time to adjust.

Bessent was chosen after an internal tussle among Trump’s aides over the job. Howard Lutnick, Trump’s transition team co-chair and chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, made a late pitch to secure the Treasury secretary role for himself.

As Trump was deciding, sceptics of Bessent raised concerns about his ties to Soros and suggested he was not a true believer in tariffs. However, he won the public support of key advisers to Trump such as Larry Kudlow and Steve Bannon, who viewed him as the best choice.

For Bessent, the challenge now will be remaining in Trump’s good graces as the president-elect once again looks to upend the international trading system and rewrite the tax code. Trump’s first Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, often tried to dissuade Trump from imposing new tariffs and would attempt to calm markets as trade tensions flared. Still, he managed to maintain Trump’s trust.

Stanley Druckenmiller, a hedge fund investor who worked with Bessent at Soros Fund Management, said that although Bessent is soft-spoken, he can also be “tough and persuasive” and that he has the right temperament to work for a demanding boss such as Trump.

“If anybody can handle it, it’s Scott,” Druckenmiller said.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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