CNN
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President-elect Donald Trump is casting a wider net for Treasury secretary after competing between the top two candidates and exploring alternatives, according to people familiar with the process.
Trump now consults former investment banker and former Federal Reserve President Kevin Warsh, whom he frequently consults for financial advice, and private equity firm Apollo Global, according to people familiar with the matter. It is said to be considering Mark Rowan, the billionaire co-founder of Management.
President Trump has a personal affinity for Warsh, who is married to the heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics fortune. Mr. Warsh has been on Mr. Trump’s shortlist for Federal Reserve Chairman for years and remains a member close to Mr. Trump’s orbit.
Meanwhile, Rowan has the support of many of Trump’s closest allies, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who has consulted with Rowan on foreign and economic policy. Mr. Kushner asked Mr. Rowan to participate in a 2023 meeting with the Qatari prime minister on the Middle East conflict, and Mr. Rowan suggested to Mr. Kushner in 2020 that eligibility for pandemic-era loan programs be relaxed. Apollo also made a loan to Kushner Companies to refinance debt on a Chicago skyscraper.
Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty visited Mar-a-Lago over the weekend to interview for various positions, and two sources said he remains a candidate for the Treasury Department. Mr. Hagerty ran his own private equity and investment firm and served on the boards of several companies before returning to politics. He served as U.S. ambassador to Japan during President Trump’s first term, but resigned in 2019 to run for Senate.
The Treasury secretary is considered the top financial figure in any administration, a trophy position for many wealthy Wall Street financiers. President Trump’s field of nominees has expanded to include hedge fund manager Scott Bessent and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, who is also a co-chairman of Trump’s presidential transition. The announcement came after weeks of intense infighting that led to the withdrawal of the president-elect’s nomination. He expected to announce the decision after markets close on Friday.
A full week earlier, Mr. Trump was close to deciding to appoint Mr. Bessent to the post. Allies said Trump liked the billionaire’s bona fides and the fact that he turned to the MAGA movement after working for Democratic financier George Soros. Meanwhile, Lutnick’s aggressive campaign has gained the support of Trump acolyte Elon Musk and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the president-elect’s nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services. It seriously irritated others in his campaign and may have upset Mr. Trump. About his transition co-chairs.
Mr. Bessent has led the pursuit of a more modest role compared to Mr. Lutnick’s brash self-promotion, which aides say is more modest, but on Saturday the tech billionaire met President Trump in New York City. Before attending the Unified Martial Arts Championships, he called Mr. Musk and tried to talk him out of it. However, Mr. Musk had posted a post on X supporting Mr. Lutnick. “In my view, Mr. Bessent is the usual choice,” he wrote Saturday morning, while Mr. Lutnick “will make a real difference.”
Both Mr. Bessent and Mr. Lutnick are expected to have roles in the administration, although their exact titles remain unclear. If Bessent is not selected as Treasury secretary, he is expected to be President Trump’s nominee to lead the National Economic Council, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Amid infighting and indecision, and a tense market waiting for a name, President Trump on Thursday asked who JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who has praised Trump’s policies I announced my choice and interrupted the Truth Social debate. But recently, he has been aligned with Vice President Kamala Harris.
CNN’s Phil Mattingly and Lauren Fox contributed to this report.
