President Trump is currently considering Kevin Warsh and Mark Rowan for the Treasury Secretary post, and Howard Lutnick says he is irritating Trump by spending too much time with them before he is appointed. The situation between Lutnick and Scott Bessent was reportedly a “knife fight,” a source familiar with the matter said.
President-elect Donald Trump is said to be reconsidering his options for US Treasury secretary, in a move away from his crypto-pro-choice choices.
The New York Times reports that President Trump is currently considering former Federal Reserve chief Kevin Warsh and Wall Street billionaire Mark Rowan. Trump is expected to invite the pair to his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Florida this week after internal conflict over their roles.
President-elect Trump is reconsidering his options for Treasury secretary and is expected to invite potential candidates for interviews at Mar-a-Lago. Here are the latest updates: https://t.co/0fHtpa82wN
— New York Times (@nytimes) November 18, 2024
Trump has suggested pro-crypto candidates such as Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, or founder of investment firm Key Square Capital Management and former money manager for George Soros. It was expected that he would choose between Scott Bessent and Scott Bessent.
Until yesterday morning, prediction market platform Polymarket had predicted Mr. Bessent had an 87% chance of winning the job. However, that has now fallen to 16%, with Warsh in the lead at 44%.
I get irritated
According to the New York Times, President Trump has expressed dissatisfaction with Lutnick, claiming that he is stalking the president-elect too much to appoint him. A person familiar with the matter described the situation between Lutnick and Bessent as a “knife fight” and that Lutnick was the “primary aggressor.”
Nevertheless, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, an influential figure in Trump’s inner circle, backed Lutnick over X, saying, “Vessent is the usual choice.” ” he added.
“Something has to change because business as usual is bankrupting America,” Musk said. He added that Lutnick would “actually make a difference.”
It would be interesting to hear more people weigh in on this as @realDonaldTrump considers feedback.
My take is that Bessent is the traditional choice and @howardlutnick is going to be the one to really make a difference.
Change is needed because business as usual is leading America to bankruptcy… https://t.co/igGLZOJ8wz
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 16, 2024
After having second thoughts, Trump is delaying the selection process, even though Bessent is still under consideration. Both Mr. Lutnick and Mr. Bessent are much more pro-cryptocurrency than Mr. Warsh and Mr. Rowan.
In an essay for the American Enterprise Institute, Warsh advocated for an American central bank digital currency (CBDC) despite consumer privacy concerns. Meanwhile, Rowan said in an interview in March that he doesn’t know the “value of alternative currencies” when discussing cryptocurrencies.
