By Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Alexandra Ulmer
(Reuters) – Billionaire banker Howard Lutnick has emerged as a severe contender alongside investor Scott Bessent for the highest Treasury job within the new Trump administration, two sources conversant in the matter stated, because the race for the excessive profile function heats up.
Lutnick, a longtime pal of Trump’s and co-chair of the transition workforce, had acquired the backing of no less than one influential member of President-elect Donald Trump’s inside circle for the Treasury Secretary function, one of many sources stated.
Bessent, who served as an financial advisor to the Trump marketing campaign along with being a fundraiser, stays a prime contender, stated the sources, who requested to not be recognized speaking about positions forward of them being introduced.
Whereas the sources stated the race appeared to have narrowed to the 2 for now, it’s doable that different severe contenders might emerge as Trump finally decides who he desires.
“President-Elect Trump is making decisions on who will serve in his second administration,” stated Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman. “Those decisions will be announced when they are made.”
A spokesperson for Lutnick declined to remark. A consultant for Bessent didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Since his win on Nov. 5, Trump has introduced a sequence of his picks for key roles in his second presidency when he assumes workplace in January. To date, analysts have stated he is chosen unfailingly loyal people who find themselves unlikely to push again towards his most controversial orders.
The Treasury Secretary function is without doubt one of the highest profile cupboard posts, overseeing the nation’s monetary and financial coverage. As such, it is without doubt one of the key roles being watched by international buyers and Wall Road.
A number of names have been reported by Reuters and different media in current days as doable candidates for the job, together with billionaire investor John Paulson, FOX Enterprise Community persona and Trump adviser Larry Kudlow, Trump’s former U.S. commerce consultant Robert Lighthizer and former Securities and Change Fee Chairman Jay Clayton.
Kudlow didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. Lighthizer couldn’t instantly be reached for remark. When requested earlier on Wednesday about any plans to affix the Trump administration, Clayton declined to touch upon specifics however stated: “If asked for a role where I could be effective, I’ll say yes.”
Final week, sources stated Paulson and Bessent had emerged as main candidates for the job.
Trump had been leaning towards Paulson initially, a supply near the Trump transition workforce stated. However Paulson bowed out of the race on Tuesday, saying his “complex financial obligations” will forestall him from holding an workplace within the new administration.
Bessent met the president-elect on Friday. Bessent has stated he has recognized the Trump household for 30 years by means of a friendship with Donald Trump’s late brother, Robert Trump. He contributed to Donald Trump’s inauguration following his 2016 election win and have become extra concerned this time spherical.
He has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, significantly to spur extra financial institution lending and vitality manufacturing, as famous in a current opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Road Journal.
The market’s surge after Trump’s election victory, he wrote, signaled investor “expectations of higher growth, lower volatility and inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans.”
The connection between Lutnick, CEO of New York-based Cantor Fitzgerald, and Trump spans a long time as nicely. After 658 Cantor workers died within the Sept. 11, 2001 assaults, Trump provided help to Lutnick because the CEO rebuilt the agency by hiring hundreds of individuals.
He informed Reuters in August he was tapping his community from a profession on Wall Road to construct a roster of hundreds of candidates to serve in a possible administration as a part of his function as co-chair of the transition workforce.
In line with on-line betting web site Polymarket, Bessent is the lead candidate for Treasury Secretary at 68%, with Lutnick subsequent probably at 31%.
