The choices for his economic team, or for areas that will exert influence on the economy, are fully aligned with the strategy presented by the new president of the United States in the 2024 election campaign.
Aggressive trade policy, through the imposition of tariffs, tax reductions, and strong deregulation of companies and markets are policies that these names have defended in recent years.
See below a list of Trump’s main collaborators in the economic area. Some of them still need to be approved by the Senate, but approval is considered practically certain at the beginning of the government.
Marco Rubio – Secretary of State
is a Florida-born senator who has always advocated an aggressive foreign policy toward the U.S.’s geopolitical “enemies,” including China, Iran and Cuba.
In recent years, he has softened some of his positions to align with Trump’s views. Remembering that, in addition to trade policy, the president will demand from Rubio a less interventionist foreign policy from a military point of view.
Last week, at a Senate hearing, Rubio said that China is the “most powerful and most dangerous adversary” of any that the United States has ever faced, as it possesses “elements that the Soviet Union never had.”
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As a senator from Florida, he warned whenever possible about the strong Chinese influence in Latin America. He also said that Venezuela has a dictatorial regime linked to drug trafficking and that Cuba should once again be considered a country that promotes terrorism.
Howard Lutnick – Secretary of Commerce
is president and CEO of Wall Street investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald. He served as co-chair on Trump’s transition team and played a large role in choosing the rest of the administration’s proposed economic team.
Lutnick is a strong supporter of Trump’s plan to increase tariffs on foreign goods. He is also an advocate of cryptocurrencies and has specifically recommended the digital currency Tether, which is under federal investigation for allegedly facilitating payments to drug traffickers and terrorists.
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Lutnick has previously been accused of exploiting his position as co-chair of Trump’s transition committee to advance his private business interests, an accusation he has denied.
Jamieson Greer – US Trade Representative
was previously chief of staff to Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer during Trump’s first term. At the time, the administration implemented widespread tariffs on China and other countries, as well as signed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
He will be Trump’s chief adviser and negotiator on international trade. “Jamieson will focus the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on the tasks of containing the nation’s massive trade deficit, defending American manufacturing, agriculture and services, and opening export markets everywhere,” Trump said in a statement. last year.
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Scott Bessent – Secretary of the Treasury
a billionaire hedge fund manager, is one of the biggest proponents of a plan to cut the annual federal budget deficit by more than half, or about $1 trillion, over the next four years.
He is against raising taxes on billionaires or large corporations. Thus, it is believed that essential public services such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, other health programs, housing and education would be cut.
O The New York Times recalls that he gained notoriety in the 1990s by betting against the British pound and winning $1 billion for his company, Soros Fund Management.
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According to the newspaper, as an advisor to the Trump campaign, Bessent promoted a 3-3-3 plan that involves increasing growth to 3%, reducing the budget deficit to 3% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and increasing energy production in US in three million barrels of oil per day, or the equivalent in other fuels.
– president of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
Paul Atkins is a billionaire and a huge supporter of cryptocurrencies. He previously served as an SEC commissioner, when he pushed for less regulation of corporations and markets. Atkins is a critic of the SEC agency that oversees the auditing of corporate finances.
Kelly Loeffler – administradora da Small Business Administration (SBA)
According to Trump, the senator from Georgia was chosen for the position because of her experience in business and her mission will be to reduce bureaucracy and unlock opportunities for small businesses to grow, innovate and prosper. In other words, it is also in the deregulation playbook.
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Loeffler was a co-owner of the Atlanta Dream women’s basketball team. She also served for 16 years as director of communications and marketing and head of investor relations at Intercontinental Exchange, a company that trades futures and derivatives over the counter.
Kevin Hassett – Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers
Trump recalled Kevin Hassett to chair the White House Council of Economic Advisers (NEC), a role he held from 2017 to 2019. He is an economist recognized for his work on tax policy.
The council leads debates on virtually every economic topic, from taxes and trade to substance abuse and deregulation.
While in the White House, Hassett was the White House’s chief public spokesman on economic policy and the state of the economy, appearing regularly in interviews on Fox, Fox Business, CNBC, MSNBC, Bloomberg and CNN, among others.
During Trump’s first term, Hassett angered some conservative activists who were unhappy with his views in favor of more immigration.
Russell Vought – Office of Management and Budget
With experience in this area in Congress, Vought will be tasked with defining the government’s spending priorities and determining whether federal agencies are behaving in accordance with the president’s policies.
He is considered an important figure in Project 2025, an effort by conservative organizations to build a government plan for Trump, which included transforming the country’s entire regulatory process.
Elon Musk – Department of Government Efficiency (Doge)
Last year, Donald Trump appointed the billionaire owner of Tesla, X and SpaceX as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (Doge), an agency with the aim of reducing government spending and simplifying regulations.
Although Doge has the clear support of Trump and has the word “department” in its name, it is not an official department of the American government – especially because it would need to be created by an act of Congress, have a budget and manage public employees. In fact, it will operate as an advisory body, managed by both Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, another technology magnate who was a Republican pre-candidate, but who dropped out to support Trump.
