President Trump relies on a cast of economic advisers with different perspectives and backgrounds as he implements a tariff agenda that rattles financial markets and sometimes mixes messages.
We have Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent. Scott Bescent took the lead in negotiations on trade deals and is seen as a stable hand by Republican lawmakers and Wall Street executives.
There is Peter Navarro, a thorny senior trade adviser who shares Trump’s unwavering views on tariffs and is stubbornly loyal. I have Trump’s longtime friend, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
Also helping to shape, implement and send a message to Trump’s economic plan, Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, and Jamieson Greer, US trade representative, shape, implement and send a message about Trump’s economic plan.
Sources close to the White House said that having officials with different views is not new to the president, and that it is ultimately Trump who will make the final call on tariffs, trade and the economy. But these top economic aides are in the spotlight as economists warn of potential fallout in Trump’s policy.
“They have a variety of views on how to go from A to B,” said a former Trump White House official. “Frankly, that’s what Trump wants. He says, ‘I want to fight in front of me. I’ll decide who wins.”
This is the five senior officials behind Trump’s economic agenda.
Scott Bescent
Bescent has recently seen his stock rise at the Trump White House, with signs that his debate is beating the president.
Bescent is a Trump administration official who suspended a 90-day suspension with steep “mutual” tariffs after the White House sent to address reporters last week suggested there was no room for other economic advisers to negotiate.
The Treasury Secretary is trying to lead negotiations with Japan and other countries and mediate trade agreements. As Bescent sat on an oval office sofa during a meeting with the Italian Prime Minister on Thursday, Trump postponed it to Bescent and spoke about his continued efforts to finalise the agreement.
Bescent reportedly warned Trump against his attempt to expel Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, citing potential market fallout. And Bescent is seen as capable of clarifying the president’s agenda in a way that appeals to both Main Street and Wall Street, both inside and outside of many administrations.
“The key is that it’s the best messenger for the group. Bescent is the best messenger,” Trump’s allies said.
It was a prominent rise for officials who were not the heart of Trump’s world during the first administration. Bescent established a hedge fund in 2015. Prior to that, he worked for an investment company that managed the Soros family’s assets, liberal mega donors, and frequent GOP attacks and conspiracy theories targets.
Howard Lutnick
When Trump nominated Lutnick as a candidate for Secretary of Commerce, he said that Canter Fitzgerald executives would “lead our tariff and trade agenda.”
In fact, Lutnick is a key player in the administration’s various tariff deployments, often in the presence of Trump. However, his media appearances in particular have irritated some at the White House and questioned the level of his impact.
The Secretary of Commerce urged Americans to invest in Tesla stocks during a Fox News interview in March. He was determined that his tariffs did not set back Trump before the president did that. And he raised his eyebrows when Trump’s trade policy suggested that millions of Americans were “screwing small screws to make iPhones.”
Some Trump allies and Wall Street officials have been pushed by some officials from several Trump allies to ensure Lutnick is held accountable if the White House tariff policy is disappointing and sends the economy to the tailspin.
“Lutonic clearly pisses some people off,” the Republican strategist said.
However, Lutnick is unlikely to be pushed out any time soon, and he still has the president’s ears, sources told Hill.
He is a longtime friend of Trump and has donated millions to the president’s campaign. He regularly spotted flying in Air Force 1 with Trump, and Lutnick was in the oval office on Thursday for an executive order signed to promote efforts to expand U.S. seafood exports.
Peter Navarro
The official title of Navarro is a senior counselor for trade and manufacturing. He and Trump agree on the use of tariffs as a tool to return manufacturing to the United States.
Navarro has led the charges on Trump’s tariff policy and argues for each round of new import obligations. He argues the importance of tariffs already imposed on steel and aluminum, not just cars.
He is a stubborn advocate for “mutual” tariffs, including a 10% baseline obligation on imports, and has frawn it as a “national emergency” to revive domestic manufacturing, including sudden penalties for more countries. At one point Navarro suggested itIt wasn’t enoughTo help Vietnam remove all its duties.
But his unwavering attitude has taken him a step forward with others in the White House as Trump opened the doors for talks, including China. Navarro’s hierarchy rankings were further scrutinized when the president’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk publicly attacked him on social media. And he doesn’t develop many friends on Capitol Hill.
The White House shrugged internal disagreements. “Boys will be boys,” spokesperson Caroline Lewitt told reporters for Musk Navarro Tiff.
Beyond that, Trump values Navarro’s loyalty. Trade advisers also collapsed, although at the heart of internal conflicts during the first administration. Since then, Navarro spent his time in prison on January 6, 2021, refusing to comply with Congressional subpoena related to the attack on the Capitol.
Kevin Hassett
As chairman of the National Economic Council, Hassett is essentially Trump’s top economic adviser.
He was deployed on the campaign path to protect the president’s economic proposal, and he has taken on a similar role in the administration so far, appearing on television and in front of reporters to push back tariff criticism.
Sources close to the White House told Hill that Hassett has not always agreed to the president behind the scenes. However, in public, Hassett is seen as a consistent voice that remains in the message and unprecedentedly remains the president and what he will do.
For example, Hassett said in his 2021 memoir that he and other Trump advisers warned that it may actually be impossible to fire the Fed chairman, and that it could crash financial markets regardless of whether it is legal or not.
On Friday, he closed the line with caution, reporters and his team saying they will “continue to study” whether the president can fire Jerome Powell and criticize the Fed’s policies.
Hassett served during Trump’s first term as chairman of the Economic Advisors Council. He also advised the White House on economic policy during the coronavirus pandemic,It’s being examinedAt one point, the CEA has released a chart predicting that the death of Covid-19 in the US will drop by May 2020.
Jamieson Grier
Greer, who serves as USTR in a lesser known but equally important trade consultation, is Greer.
Greer served as Chief of Staff for then-Deputy Robert Lighthizer in the first Trump administration, giving him a front row seat and a key role in negotiations with China over tariffs and the ultimate trade deal. He was also part of the talks to renegotiate the NAFTA with the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) signed in 2020.
Greer tends to be overlooked when it comes to those in the president’s trade circles. Trump said Lutnick will oversee trade as part of his portfolio running the Commerce Department, and said the president himself has a strong view on the issue.
And while Greer is legally a top White House trade negotiator, Trump has historically relied on his Treasury Secretary to lead major economic talks.
But Greer is respected as someone who has had experience running the presidential agenda in Trump world, and he showed at his confirmation hearing that reducing the trade deficit and boosting domestic manufacturing is a priority.
“We believe there will be a relatively short time to rebuild the international trade system to better serve the interests of the US,” Greer told the senator in February.
