The informal promotion of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as President Donald Trump's chief trade advisor has seemingly propelled negotiations with American trade partners and assuaged the fears of Trump supporters who were initially rattled by the President's tariff agenda.
Starting in February, the President began to utilize Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro as the public faces of his tariff rollout. However, following the market losses in early April triggered by the implementation of Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, Bessent began to shoulder a larger portion of the White House's messaging, despite the White House's denial of such a shift.
According to The Washington Examiner, nearly a dozen long-standing Trump allies and seasoned Republican operatives view Bessent's rise as instrumental in securing the President's two initial trade agreements. They also credit him for the recovery of U.S. stocks from their tariff-related losses.
A former aide from the first Trump White House opined that Bessent seems to be the "most serious person in the room" among Trump's Cabinet. "It's a completely different administration this time around. He had serious people in some of those positions last time, but they were Never Trumpers," the former aide stated. "This time around, he just didn't put serious people in most of these positions, and he just put in Fox News hosts and loyalists he could trust, but they're not serious."
Two veteran Republican fundraisers, both of whom have supported Trump in every election since 2016, believe that Trump's decision to appoint Bessent over Lutnick at Treasury could be one of the most significant decisions of Trump's second term.
One fundraiser noted, "I think a lot of people are realizing that Bessent is one of the best assets on a variety of subjects and a variety of bailiwicks within the Trump administration. Hes not into performative theater, like some of the other people. Hes relatively calm, cool, and collected, and he knows his s***."
The same fundraiser also pointed out why Bessent was chosen for Treasury over Lutnick, who was positioning himself for the role during the transition. "Hes not winging it like there have certainly been some people whove been said to be showing up to some of these meetings and winging it without even reading briefing books."
Another fundraiser observed, "When there was all that volatility, and Lutnick kept going on TV, the markets would shift. Once Bessent took over, things calmed down a lot, and youve just seen Bessent on TV more and more as a result."
An analysis conducted by Neil Dutta, head of economics research at Renaissance Macro, supports this claim. Dutta found that from March 1 through April 22, the S&P 500 fell 719 points on days when Lutnick or Navarro appeared on television. Conversely, the index gained 52 points when Bessent appeared on TV.
Despite this, White House officials dismissed Dutta's report as "outdated," insisting that the President still equally relies on the tariff counsel of Bessent, Lutnick, Navarro, and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.
One official confirmed that Bessent and Treasury, with assistance from Greer, are leading negotiations with East Asian countries, including China, while Lutnick is spearheading efforts "basically everywhere else."
The White House aide explained, "Prior to the China deal, the thing that most rose markets was the U.K. deal, which Lutnick was running point on. And if you remember, Bessent was on the sidelines in the Oval because he wasnt running point on the U.K. deal."
The aide further clarified, "This isnt one persons being elevated and one persons being demoted, so to speak. It says that theyve all been given buckets or countries. Its more division of labor than Oh, the markets are spooked by China. Lets get the guy that Wall Street likes to do that one.'"
Nonetheless, Bessent has continued to secure significant victories for the President in recent weeks, beyond the trade negotiations. These include reviving the rare minerals deal with Ukraine, previously scuttled due to a spat between Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and managing damage control with Republican donors in California after the President suggested imposing new tariffs on foreign films.
At a reception hosted by Trump-aligned lobbying group Tactic Global at the Peninsula hotel in Beverly Hills on May 5, Bessent and Trump special envoy Richard Grenell were the featured guests. Multiple attendees told The Washington Examiner that Bessent helped alleviate concerns about the President's tariff agenda, including those of hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman.
Ackman, who supported Trump in 2024, was a critic of the President's tariff rollout last month and publicly urged Trump to pause implementation to allow for bilateral negotiations with U.S. trading partners. On Monday, he specifically praised Bessent for leading negotiations with Chinese officials in Switzerland and closing a preliminary trade agreement with Beijing.
"Scott Bessent is extremely effective because he is highly respected and he has the confidence of Donald Trump," he wrote. "A winning combination."
Bessent's apparent rise was also evident during Trump's trip across the Middle East this week. Both Bessent and Lutnick accompanied Trump on the trip, but during his Tuesday remarks speech in Saudi Arabia, Trump only mentioned one of those lead negotiators by name.
"We just reached a historic trade agreement with the United Kingdom, and over the weekend, we reached a breakthrough agreement with China, both outstanding deals," Trump told Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and scores of business leaders. "China has agreed we have to get it down. We have to get the little details down. Scott, youre going to work on that very hard."
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