Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate Scott Bessent as U.S. Treasury secretary. Bessent, a hedge fund manager married to a man, has spent his career in finance, working for short seller Jim Chanos and George Soros. Actually he was the head of Soros' London office when his team, betting against the British pound, garnered over $1 billion for the firm. His bet against the Japanese yen in 2013 brought additional profit. Bessent runs his own hedge fund, Key Square Group, that uses geopolitics and economics to make macro investments. Key Square received a $2 billion anchor investment from George Soros. Bessent has advocated for deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.

Wall Street will be pleased with Bessent as Treasury secretary, as he has been on the side of less aggressive tariffs, which means he provides a counterweight to Trump's campaign promise to raise import duties. @LauraRuHK