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squeezing a few dollars more....

Donald Trump has nominated Scott Bessent to lead the US Treasury Department, a post with wide oversight of tax policy, public debt, international finance and sanctions. 

The selection ends what has proven to be one of the more protracted decisions for the president-elect as he assembles his team for a second term.

Bessent, a Wall Street financier who once worked for George Soros, was an early backer of Trump's 2024 bid and would bring a relatively conventional resume to the role.

On the campaign trail, he told voters that Trump would usher in a "new golden age with de-regulation, low-cost energy, [and] low taxes".

"Scott is widely respected as one of the World’s foremost International Investors and Geopolitical and Economic Strategists," Trump said in his announcement which was posted to Truth Social on Friday.

"[He] has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda," he said, adding that Bessent would "support my Policies that will drive US Competitiveness, and stop unfair Trade imbalances."

If Bessent's nomination is confirmed by the Senate, he would almost immediately be plunged into the fight in Washington over extending the tax cuts from Trump's first term.

Trump has also called for controversial changes to trade policy, proposing sweeping tariffs on all goods coming into the country.

Such ideas have been met with alarm in traditional economic and corporate circles. 

In an interview with Fox News shortly before the election, Bessent said ensuring the tax cuts do not expire as planned at the end of next year would be his top priority, if he ended up in the administration.

"If it doesn’t happen, this will be the largest tax increase in US history," he warned.

For other posts, Trump has been willing to back candidates with minimal experience in favour of loyalty and apparent conviction in his pledges.

But he has appeared more hesitant to buck convention at the Treasury Department, which serves as a key liaison between the White House and Wall Street and has critical functions that include collecting taxes, supervising banks, wielding sanctions and handling US government debt.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj3mv6l1ypyo

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

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         Gus Leonisky

"tougher sanctions"....

Scott Bessent, US President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for treasury secretary, has pledged to place even tougher sanctions on Russia, describing it as a key leveraging tool for ending the Ukraine conflict.

His comments came amid speculation that Trump could reshape US sanctions policy against Russia, possibly to include canceling the restrictions outright.

During his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday, Scott Bessent blasted the administration of US President Joe Biden over its sanctions policy, arguing that the measures taken against Moscow “were not fulsome enough.”

He also suggested that Biden officials only moved to tighten sanctions on Russia’s oil industry less than two weeks before the end of the administration because of well-founded fears that they would raise US energy prices, which would not score any political points.

Bessent said he would fully support tougher sanctions on Russia if confirmed as secretary and that Trump had asked him to develop them to help resolve the Ukraine conflict.

“If any officials in the Russian Federation are watching this confirmation hearing, they should know that if I’m confirmed, and if President Trump requests it as part of his strategy to end the Ukraine war, I will be 100% on board for taking sanctions up — especially on the Russian oil majors — to levels that would bring the Russian Federation to the table,” he said.

Earlier this month, the Biden administration imposed its most extensive sanctions yet on Russia’s energy sector, targeting major oil producers Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas, as well as 183 ships involved in oil transport. The measures caused oil prices to jump several percentage points on fears that the new restrictions would disrupt global supply chains.

Russia regards Western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict as “illegal.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has criticized the restrictions against the Russian oil industry, saying that such actions destabilize global markets.

As the incoming administration prepares to take office, Trump’s team is developing a double-edged sanctions roadmap to end the Ukraine conflict, according to Bloomberg. The agency’s sources said that one potential approach involves easing sanctions on Moscow to facilitate peace talks, while another contemplates intensifying them to increase US leverage in negotiations.

https://www.rt.com/news/611057-trump-treasury-nominee-russia-sanctions/

 

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PLEASE DO NOT BLAME RUSSIA IF WW3 STARTS. BLAME AMERICA.