The billionaire Bessent is the new US finance minister. The Senate confirmed the 62 -year -old – also with voices from the ranks of the Democrats. Now it is up to him to implement Trump's promises of tax cuts and import duties.
The Senate in Washington has confirmed the hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as the new US finance minister. The Congress Chamber voted with a clear majority for the 62-year-old nominated by President Donald Trump. 68 senators voted for Bessent, who is one of the less controversial members of the government team nominated by Trump.
In his hearing in the Senate, Bessent had clearly behind the course of the new president in finance and economic policy. Like Trump, Bessent promised a “golden age” for the US economy, which is to be achieved through tax cuts, reducing government expenditure and tariffs to protect domestic industry.
With tariffs against “unfair Commercial practices “
According to a report by the Financial Times, he urges the introduction of new universal tariffs to US imports. These should start at 2.5 percent and increase the same amount every month. Before the vote, he argued that tariffs would combat unfair trade practices, increase income and strengthen the US negotiation position. In addition, he spoke out for tougher sanctions against the Russian oil sector in order to reach an end to the Ukraine war.
He will also employ the recurring discussion about the legally defined debt limit. Shortly before taking office, Trump had tried to enforce the debt limit for several years in order to get some political freedom. But he couldn't do that.
Earlier cooperation with Soros
Trump had praised Bessent as “one of the greatest analysts in Wall Street”. The Bessent, who comes from the south state of South Carolina, has been friends with the Trump family for decades and donated to Trump and other Republicans in the past election campaign.
In the past, however, the graduate of the Elite University Yale worked in leading positions for the billionaire business empire George Soros, who is a supporter of the US Democrats. In 2015, Bessent then founded his own investment fund, Key Square, to whose start -up capital Soros contributed with two billion dollars.
Openly gay
Besser will be one of the first openly homosexual ministers of a US government. He lives with his husband and the two children together in Charleston in South Carolina. His partner and children sat in the audience during his Senate hearing.
The Republicans represent Besent's life as an example of the fulfillment of the American dream: Besser, according to his own statements, grew up in the sign of his father's financial problems, started earning his own money early on, and finally made it to the Elite University Yale. His career in the financial sector began with an internship in New York, where the employer provided him with a sofa bed in the office.
