US President-elect Donald Trump has completed his new cabinet list (2025-2029) with many surprises compared to the previous term (2017-2021) when the number of USD billionaires as ministers is much less. However, there is still billionaire investor Scott Bessent as Minister of Finance, billionaire cryptocurrency enthusiast Howard Lutnick as Minister of Commerce and the world's richest billionaire Elon Musk as "Minister" of Government Efficiency (DOGE) even though he does not receive a salary and DOGE is not in the cabinet.

Choose billionaire for important mission

On November 22, Mr. Donald Trump posted an announcement on Truth Social (a social network founded by Mr. Trump) choosing billionaire investor Scott Bessent as US Secretary of the Treasury in the new administration.

Mr. Scott Bessent is not on the list of billionaires of USD by Bloomberg or Forbes but is widely recognized by international media as a billionaire. Bessent used to be the investment director for billionaire George Soros' fund with many famous deals.

According to Bloomberg, Bessent made about $10 billion in profits for financial tycoon Soros. Among his big bets was a bet on the British pound and the Japanese yen that yielded billions of dollars in profits each trade. Bessent later founded the hedge fund Key Square Group.

Scott Bessent believes Mr Trump is ushering in a “golden era” for the US involving deregulation for cheap energy and low taxes. Bessent also has a top priority of cutting taxes.

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Mr. Trump chose billionaire investor Scott Bessent as US Treasury Secretary in the new administration. Photo: Investopia

But the most prominent is probably Elon Musk. Although not officially in the cabinet, the Tesla electric car company boss is still considered a “minister”.

Elon Musk is the richest billionaire on the planet, with a fortune of 334 billion USD as of November 25. Elon Musk's fortune reached a record on November 22 with nearly 350 billion USD thanks to Tesla's stock price increasing by about 40% after the US presidential election.

The tech billionaire has spent about $200 million to help the former president return to the White House.

Mr. Trump also selected Doug Burgum, a former software entrepreneur, to be Secretary of the Interior. If confirmed, Burgum would oversee an agency responsible for managing and conserving federal lands and natural resources.

Chris Wright, founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, was chosen as Secretary of Energy. Howard Lutnick, CEO of financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, was chosen to lead the Department of Commerce. Howard Lutnick is a billionaire and believes that Bitcoin should be traded like gold…

Mr. Trump himself is also a billionaire, with assets as of November 25 being 5.6 billion USD.

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US President-elect Donald Trump has completed his new cabinet line-up and is awaiting Senate approval. Photo: NBC

What signal from the new cabinet?

It can be seen that in his second term, Mr. Trump has more diverse choices for his cabinet.

During his previous term, Mr. Trump created the richest cabinet in American history by choosing many billionaires and millionaires into the government . Mr. Trump himself at that time had assets of about 3.7 billion USD.

Education Secretary Betsy Devos is worth more than $5 billion. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is worth $2.5 billion. Ross's deputy Todd Ricketts is worth $1.7 billion... The total assets of Trump's cabinet at that time were up to tens of billions of dollars.

The list of cabinet members this time includes 3 TV presenters, a former football player, 4 billionaires... And these are all faces that have strong support for many of Mr. Trump's policies, from reducing domestic taxes, increasing import taxes, tough policies with China and immigration issues...

Overall, it can be seen that Mr. Trump's choices are aimed at streamlining, making the US government more efficient and reducing costs. That is the role of Elon Musk.

It is also an effort to cut taxes for people and domestic businesses, aiming for lower energy costs and cheap prices. Scott Bessent (62 years old) is one of the people expected to do this. Mr. Bessent has always supported tax reform and deregulation, wants to produce more energy...

Mr. Trump also wants to enhance the position of the USD as the world's financial center, with the acceptance of change and new things. Howard Lutnick has an estimated fortune of about 1.5 billion USD and is a supporter of cryptocurrencies in general and Tether cryptocurrency in particular.

Basically, Mr. Trump wants to remove difficulties to free up production capacity, promote the US economy; wants to prevent cheap goods (including China) to protect domestic businesses, but at the same time also find ways to control inflation by reducing energy costs. Mr. Trump also wants to end war and war costs, first of all to reduce US spending...

However, a matter of concern for many is how the trade war with China will play out in Trump’s second term. The latest signs suggest it may not be as tense as Trump claims.

Trump’s choice of billionaire Scott Bessent as US Treasury Secretary, instead of Howard Lutnick, reflects this. Bessent is the first openly gay secretary in the Trump administration and has prioritized cutting domestic taxes, cutting spending and maintaining the position of the US dollar.

Many experts believe that Donald Trump's choice of Mr. Bessent (instead of Lutnick) is a signal for a moderate use of tariffs, which could ease the uncertainty in US-China trade. During his campaign, Mr. Trump considered imposing a 60% tax on Chinese goods and at least 10% on goods from other countries.

However, recent surveys suggest that the new administration may impose only a 40% tariff on Beijing. Mr. Lutnick has previously publicly supported Mr. Trump’s 60% idea. Gold prices fell earlier this week, partly due to Mr. Trump’s choice of Bessent.

Elon Musk is $30 billion richer, will it explode thanks to Donald Trump? The European Union (EU) has just imposed a tax on Chinese electric cars that is 4.5 times higher than the previous level. Is this an advantage for Elon Musk's Tesla and an additional boost if Donald Trump wins the election?