Trump's New Administration Would Support Strong Dollar, Economic Advisor Says
2024-10-14

A new U.S. government potentially headed by Donald Trump would support a strong dollar in line with the U.S.' multi-decade policy, Trump's go-to-economic advisor Scott Bessent told Financial Times (FT) on Sunday, downplaying concerns of dollar devaluation under Trump's presidency.
With Election Day fast approaching on Nov. 5, Democrat Kamala Harris is losing ground to supposedly pro-crypto Republican Donald Trump in Polymarket's prediction markets. Early this year, Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, called for a weaker dollar to boost manufacturing.
However, Bessent told FT that he doesn't expect Trump to deliberately devalue the USD, stand by the USD as a "reserve currency." Devaluation refers to deliberately depreciating the home currency's exchange rate to boost exports.
"The reserve currency can go up and down based on the market. I believe that if you have good economic policies, you're naturally going to have a strong dollar," Bessent added, cautioning he is not speaking for Trump.
In other words, the potential Trump presidency, though expected to be positive for digital assets, could be characterized by a resilient dollar, which often caps gains in riskier dollar-denominated assets like cryptocurrencies.
South Carolina-based Bessent is the founder of George Soros-seeded global macro investment firm Key Square Group. He is known for making big bucks by betting against the Japanese yen while working as a chief investment officer at Soros' family office from 2011-2015.
Trump has recently described Bessent as "one of the most brilliant men on Wall Street" who is "respected by everybody" and a "nice-looking guy." The ex-Soros star is purportedly on Trump's shortlist for the Treasury Secretary position.
Bessent also defended Trump's intention to impose across-the-board inflationary tariffs of up to 20% on all imported goods, saying these "extreme positions" will be eventually watered down during discussions with trading partners.
"My general view is that at the end of the day, he's a free trader," Bessent told FT. "It's escalate to de-escalate."
During the interview, Bessent said Trump is a businessman who understands the economy while calling Trump's rival Kamala Harris "an economic illiterate and her running mate Tim Walz "twice as illiterate."