Donald Trump has expanded his search for a Treasury secretary to serve in his second-term cabinet, throwing the contest for top economic official into confusion as he struggles to settle on a choice.
The Republican president-elect had been weighing whether to offer the job to Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager, or Howard Lutnick, the co-chair of his transition effort and chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, the financial firm. But at the weekend, Trump moved to widen the net of possible alternatives.
People close to the process say Kevin Warsh, a former Federal Reserve Governor, Marc Rowan, the chief executive of Apollo Global Management, and Bill Hagerty, the Tennessee senator, are now also in the running, along with Robert Lighthizer, the former US trade representative under Trump.
Trump has announced a string of potential appointments over the past week in the areas of national security, justice, health and energy but has held back on making any decisions on the top economic positions so far.
Trump’s advisers are seeking assurances from the top candidates to be Treasury secretary that they are committed to his sweeping plans to raise tariffs, people close to the discussions said.
Elon Musk, the billionaire investor who has emerged as one of Trump’s top allies, weighed in over the weekend in favour of Lutnick over Bessent. Musk, who sat next to Trump at a UFC championship fight in New York on Saturday night, wrote on X that “Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change”.
Since Trump was elected, Bessent has been on the defensive about his commitment to enacting the president’s economic vision. In an opinion piece for Fox News last week, he described tariffs are “a means to finally stand up for Americans”.
But his critics have seized on comments to the Financial Times — that the agenda represented ‘maximalist’ positions that were negotiating tools — as a sign he would be soft on the issue.
Trump’s aides are reluctant to repeat the tensions over trade in his first administration, in which Steven Mnuchin, then Treasury secretary, frequently sought to moderate the tariff plans for fear of disrupting markets.
Several people familiar with the discussions inside Trump’s team said Lighthizer, who served as US trade representative in the first administration, had previously expressed interest in becoming Treasury secretary.
On Sunday, the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a pro-tariff think-tank, backed Lighthizer publicly for Treasury secretary.
“The next Treasury secretary must be 100 per cent aligned with President-elect Trump’s policy on tariffs,” it said in a post on X. “Former USTR Robert Lighthizer is a steadfast champion for the US economy and the best choice to carry out President Trump’s trade agenda,” it added.
Tariffs have long been central to Trump’s plans to boost US manufacturing, create jobs and lower prices.
He has described it as the “most beautiful word in the dictionary” and the “greatest thing ever invented”. He has also billed such levies as an effective way to cover the costs of other pillars of his economic agenda, including large tax cuts for Americans.
In addition to 60 per cent tariffs on all Chinese imports, Trump has floated a universal tariff of up to 20 per cent on all goods coming into the US.
Whoever Trump selects as his Treasury secretary will be instrumental — along with the top US trade official — in both putting these policies into action as well as managing the economic ramifications.
Reporting by James Politi, Colby Smith, Demetri Sevastopulo and Stefania Palma in Washington and Antoine Gara and James Fontanella-Khan in New York