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Trump picks Scott Bessent, the ‘investor favorite,’ for Treasury secretary

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President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday evening that investor Scott Bessent will be his nominee for Treasury secretary, picking a campaign trail partner and early frontrunner for the job after a long and contentious process.

Trump called him “one of the World’s foremost International Investors” in his announcement, adding that he is “a strong advocate of the America First agenda.”

Bessent beat out a series of other candidates from former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh to Apollo Global Management (APO) CEO Marc Rowan to cap a drawn-out process that saw candidates’ chances seem to rise and fall by the day. (Disclosure: Yahoo Finance is owned by Apollo Global Management).

Assuming he is indeed nominated and then confirmed, Bessent will face the difficult challenge in the months ahead of simultaneously working to calm US and global markets while also being tasked with selling many of the president-elect’s economic plans.

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The issue is that many of those ideas remain unpopular in business world corners — specifically renewed tariffs and, perhaps, increased deficit spending.

In a live Yahoo Finance video appearance earlier on Friday, Hoover Institution fellow Lanhee Chen offered that Trump’s nominee would need to be well-qualified, aligned with his economic agenda, and also serve as “a calming force to markets.”

Then Republican candidate Donald Trump listens as investor Scott Bessent speaks on the economy during a stop in Asheville, N.C. in August. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley)
A well-known nominee from the investing world

From the beginning of the process, Bessent was often viewed as the front-runner for the post, but saw his fortunes rise and fall. The former Soros Fund Management investing chief met with Trump multiple times in the weeks following the election after being a regular campaign trail partner of the president-elect.

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The race was anything but drama-free, with betting markets have yo-yoing in recent days and Polymarket odds putting three different candidates as the favorite at various points.

Trump ended up settling on the figure who often appeared with him on the campaign trail, citing Bessent’s expertise before rally crowds, specifically the notion that stocks were on the rise because of the prospects of a Trump victory.

Trump described Bessent’s mission Friday as one to help “usher in a new Golden Era for the United States,” including the stopping of trade imbalances.

Bessent is currently the CEO of Key Square Capital Management and made a notably public case for the job since Trump’s victory.

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At various points in recent weeks, Bessent was live on the set of Fox and Friends offering “any way I can help,” and appearing with Trump ally Steve Bannon to discuss his vision for the US economy.

He also published op-eds in the Wall Street Journal and on FoxNews.com to discuss issues close to the president-elect.

Bessent has also donated more than $3.1 million to Trump and other Republicans during the recent election season, according to government records.

Evercore ISI in a note to clients this week called Bessent “the investor favorite given his knowledge of macro and markets and his credibility with the bond market.”

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A perch of relative stability in Trump’s orbit

During Trump’s first term, the Treasury secretary role was a rare area of relative stability and persistent influence throughout the term, with Steven Mnuchin holding the post for Trump’s entire term even as turnover at the White House and other Cabinet agencies was rampant.

Mnuchin, who was succeeded by current Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, also found himself at the center of an array of issues, notably the negotiations that led to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Many provisions of that law expire at the end of 2025, leaving Bessent to likely assume a central role on the same issue.

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Foreign

There will be no same sex marriage again -Trump vows to end ‘transgender madness ‘

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President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday pledged to “stop the transgender lunacy” on day one of his presidency, as Republicans — set to control both chambers of Congress and the White House — continue their push against LGBTQ rights.

“I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools,” the president-elect said at an event for young conservatives in Phoenix, Arizona.

He also vowed to “keep men out of women’s sports,” adding that “it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”

Speaking to the AmericaFest conference in a border state he easily carried in the November election, Trump further promised immediate measures against “migrant crime,” vowed to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and doubled down on his talk of restoring US control of the Panama Canal.

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Transgender issues have roiled US politics in recent years, as Democratic- and Republican-controlled states have moved in opposite directions on policy such as medical treatment and what books on the topic are allowed in public or school libraries.

Last week, when the US Congress approved its annual defense budget, it included a provision to block funding of some gender-affirming care for the transgender children of service members.

In his speech Sunday, which amounted to something of a victory lap, Trump made expansive promises for his second term — and drew a dark picture of the four years preceding it, under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the latter of whom he defeated in the 2024 election.

“On January 20, the United States will turn the page forever on four long, horrible years of failure, incompetence, national decline, and we will inaugurate a new era of peace, prosperity and national greatness,” Trump said, referring to his swearing-in.

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– ‘Golden age’ –

“I will end the war in Ukraine. I will stop the chaos in the Middle East, and I will prevent, I promise, World War III.”

He added: “The golden age of America is upon us.”

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Fresh Israeli Airstrikes In Gaza Kill 25 Palestinians Including Children

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Fresh Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 25 Palestinians, according to medics.

The casualties on Friday included at least eight people in an apartment in the Nuseirat refugee camp and 10 others in the town of Jabalia, among them seven children.

Efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have yet to succeed.

Sources involved in the negotiations told Reuters on Thursday that Qatar and Egypt had resolved some points of contention but key issues remain unresolved.

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Israel launched its assault on Gaza following Hamas-led attacks on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023.

The attacks resulted in the deaths of 1200 people and the abduction of over 250 hostages, according to Israeli reports.

Israel states that approximately 100 hostages are still being held, though it is unclear how many remain alive.

Gaza authorities report that Israel’s ongoing campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians and displaced the majority of the 2.3 million residents.

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Much of the territory has reportedly been devastated by the conflict.

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Biden signs bipartisan funding bill to keep government open

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President Biden signed the stopgap funding bill that will keep the government open until March, punting the thornier issues surrounding the nation’s finances to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

A bloated 1,500-page funding measure was exploded by Trump and his top ally Elon Musk earlier this week as they demanded a pared-down version.

The parties were able to cobble a stopgap bill together Friday evening, which passed the Senate early Saturday morning.

The package funds the government at current levels until March 14, 2025, and includes $100 billion in hurricane relief funds and $10 billion in aid to farmers.

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With the stopgap funding only running until March, an almost certain clash is looming between Trump and GOP spending hardliners when Congress reconvenes in January.

“The bipartisan funding bill I just signed keeps the government open and delivers the urgently needed disaster relief that I requested for recovering communities as well as the funds needed to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge,” Biden said in a statement after inking the deal.

The post Biden signs bipartisan funding bill to keep government open appeared first on New York Post.

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