The issue that many people are concerned about is how the trade war with China will turn out in Trump's second term. The latest signals show that it may not be as tense as Trump claims.
US President-elect Donald Trump has completed his new cabinet (2025-2029) with many surprises compared to his previous term (2017-2021) when the number of USD billionaires serving as ministers is much less. However, there is still billionaire investor Scott Bessent as Minister of Finance, billionaire cryptocurrency enthusiast Howard Lutnick as Minister of Commerce and the world's richest billionaire Elon Musk as "Minister" of Government Efficiency (DOGE) even though he does not receive a salary and DOGE is not in the cabinet.
Choose billionaire for important mission
On November 22, Mr. Donald Trump posted an announcement on Truth Social (a social network created by Mr. Trump) choosing billionaire investor Scott Bessent as the US Secretary of the Treasury in the new administration.
Mr. Scott Bessent is not on the list of USD billionaires of Bloomberg and Forbes but is widely recognized by international media as a USD billionaire. Bessent used to be the investment director for billionaire George Soros' fund with many famous deals.
According to Bloomberg, Bessent made about $10 billion in profits for financial tycoon Soros. Among his big bets was a bet against the British pound and the Japanese yen that yielded billions of dollars in profits each trade. Bessent later founded the hedge fund Key Square Group.
Scott Bessent believes Mr Trump is ushering in a “golden era” for the US involving deregulation for cheap energy and low taxes. Bessent also has a top priority of cutting taxes.
But the most prominent is probably Elon Musk. Although not officially in the cabinet, the Tesla electric car company boss is still considered a “minister”.
Elon Musk is the richest billionaire on the planet, with a fortune of $334 billion as of November 25. Elon Musk's fortune reached a record on November 22 with nearly $350 billion thanks to Tesla's stock price increasing by about 40% after the US presidential election.
The tech billionaire has spent about $200 million to help the former president return to the White House.
Trump also picked Doug Burgum, a former software entrepreneur, to be secretary of the interior. If confirmed, Burgum would oversee an agency responsible for managing and conserving federal lands and natural resources.
Chris Wright, founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, was chosen as Secretary of Energy. Howard Lutnick, CEO of financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, was chosen to lead the Department of Commerce. Howard Lutnick is a billionaire who believes that Bitcoin should be traded like gold…
Mr. Trump himself is also a billionaire, with assets as of November 25 being 5.6 billion USD.
What signal from the new cabinet?
It can be seen that in his second term, Mr. Trump has more diverse choices for his cabinet.
During his previous term, Mr. Trump created the richest cabinet in American history by selecting many billionaires and millionaires into the government. Mr. Trump himself at that time had assets of about 3.7 billion USD.
Education Secretary Betsy Devos is worth more than $5 billion. Then-Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is worth $2.5 billion. Ross's deputy Todd Ricketts is worth $1.7 billion... The total assets of Trump's cabinet at that time were up to tens of billions of dollars.
The list of cabinet members this time includes 3 TV hosts, a former football player, 4 billionaires... And these are all faces with strong support for many of Mr. Trump's policies, from reducing domestic taxes, increasing import taxes, tough policies with China and immigration issues...
Overall, it can be seen that Mr. Trump's choices are aimed at streamlining, making the US government apparatus more efficient and reducing costs. That is the role of Elon Musk.
It is also an effort to cut taxes for domestic people and businesses, aiming for lower energy costs and cheap prices. Scott Bessent (62 years old) is one person expected to do this. Mr. Bessent has always supported tax reform and deregulation, wants to produce more energy...
Mr. Trump also wants to enhance the position of the USD as well as the role of the world's financial center, with the acceptance of change and new things. Howard Lutnick has an estimated fortune of about 1.5 billion USD and is a supporter of cryptocurrencies in general and the cryptocurrency Tether in particular.
Basically, Mr. Trump wants to remove difficulties to free up production capacity, promote the US economy; wants to prevent cheap goods (including China) to protect domestic businesses, but at the same time also find ways to control inflation by reducing energy costs. Mr. Trump also wants to end war and the cost of war, first of all to reduce US spending...
However, one issue that many people are concerned about is how the trade war with China will turn out in Mr. Trump's second term. The latest signals show that it may not be as tense as Mr. Trump declared.
Trump’s choice of billionaire Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary, instead of Howard Lutnick, reflects this. Bessent is the first openly gay Treasury Secretary in the Trump administration and has prioritized lowering domestic taxes, cutting spending, and preserving the dollar’s position.
Many experts believe that Donald Trump’s choice of Mr. Bessent (instead of Lutnick) is a signal for a more moderate use of tariffs, which could ease the uncertainty in US-China trade. During his campaign, Mr. Trump considered imposing a 60% tax on Chinese goods and at least 10% on goods from other countries.
However, recent polls suggest that the new administration may impose only a 40% tariff on Beijing. Mr Lutnick has previously publicly supported Mr Trump’s 60% idea. Gold prices fell earlier this week, partly due to Mr Trump’s choice of Bessent.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/lua-chon-it-bo-truong-ty-phu-hon-ong-trump-bot-ha-khac-ve-thue-nang-luong-2345436.html
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