Donald Trump’s search for a Treasury secretary remains in flux, with the president-elect telling allies and advisers in recent days that he’s yet to be completely sold on the candidates he’s interviewed so far.
Hedge fund executive Scott Bessent, Apollo Global Management Inc. executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh remain among the leading contenders for the post.
Each met Wednesday with Trump, with Rowan flying from Hong Kong, but none of the conversations prompted him to finalize and announce his decision. As of Thursday morning, Trump’s advisers said he was still ruminating over his options.
Those close to the process underscored that a choice could be announced at any minute. But already, the extended deliberation highlights its importance to Trump’s economic agenda, and his exacting — yet at times contradictory — requirements for the role.
Allies believe Trump wants a candidate favored both by Wall Street, helping to buoy markets, but who also retains credibility with his electoral base, eager for him to actually implement sweeping new tariffs and embrace cryptocurrency.
There’s also familiar Trump requirements for a candidate — being loyal, telegenic and well-off.
The president-elect has also indicated that conventional government credentials may be a detriment and that he prefers wealthy and innovative individuals who don’t need the job.
As he deliberated, none of the remaining roster of candidates were seen as perfect, according to people familiar with the discussions, leaving a major hole in his cabinet before a second term begins.
Senator Bill Hagerty, the Tennessee Republican who served as the U.S. ambassador to Japan during Trump’s first-term, was seen as a dark horse candidate, spending time in Palm Beach earlier this week and traveling to Texas on Trump’s plane to watch Elon Musk’s SpaceX launch its Starship rocket.
Yet their interactions on Tuesday did not impress Trump enough to end the competition that day and name Hagerty to the highest-ranking economic job in the administration.
Trump spent late Wednesday afternoon interviewing both Warsh and Rowan at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida with a tiny circle of advisers in the room, according to people familiar with the matter.
He also met again with Bessent, who appeared to have momentum for the post last week before Trump widened the search. Bessent did not reply to a request for comment.
The Trump transition team declined to give a timeline for naming a nominee.
“President-elect Trump is making decisions on who will serve in his second administration. Those decisions will continue to be announced by him when they are made,” transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.
Outsider Pick
Rowan, of the current Treasury contenders, is among the least connected to Trump. The Apollo executive did not contribute directly to the president-elect’s 2024 White House bid, though he did support a pro-Trump super political action committee, according to the latest Federal Election Commission records.
