For about two weeks after winning the election, President-elect Donald Trump has been trying to appoint a Treasury secretary, but without success. He has struggled to find a candidate with a sufficiently impressive name and qualifications to match him, according to people familiar with the ongoing case, and as a result, Monday night Even now, an intense search continues.
This search has sparked intense infighting behind the scenes.
President Trump is expected to meet with former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh, who was once considered as a candidate for Fed chairman during President Trump’s first term. Trump supported Jay Powell at the time, but later regretted that decision and blamed his first Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, for pushing Powell. President Trump is currently considering Warsh, along with several other names, including Wall Street billionaire Marc Rowan and Scott Bessent, who remains a candidate.
Rowan previously supported South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott in the Republican primary, but lamented that the 2024 race has become a contest between Biden and Trump.
“I can’t believe we have 350 million people in this country and we’re down to two,” Rowan told Bloomberg in December. “Personally, I’m disappointed.”
Trump is scheduled to be interviewed later this week, but could make an immediate decision at any time, one of the people said. Another official said Trump is looking for “big names” but is short on them. He prioritizes the Treasury, wants to impress Wall Street, and doesn’t want his announcements to shake up the stock market.
The Treasury Department was one of the few relatively stable roles during President Trump’s first term.
As of Monday night, President Trump was unlikely to align himself with transition co-chairman Howard Lutnick, who pushed for the job, which was all too obvious and could have been fatal to his chances. It seemed low. Two people familiar with the matter said some of Mr. Trump’s closest aides were irritated by Mr. Lutnick’s blatant lobbying efforts against him, and so was Mr. Trump.
One person said the dispute between Mr. Lutnick and Mr. Bessent could end up being a “murder-suicide” with neither being nominated as Treasury secretary.
