The Wall Streeters whispering in Trump's ear

Chief among the private sector advisors is Scott Bessent, a hedge fund executive whom Forbes recently dubbed a "Trump whisperer." Bessent, 62, founded Key Square Capital Management after working for liberal philanthropist — and favorite right-wing punching bag — George Soros for more than a decade.

This cycle, Bessent donated $3 million to Trump PACs and Republican committees. He also attended the president-elect's final two rallies and recently spoke about Trump's economic plans at a conference for JPMorgan Chase clients. While there, he told attendees that Trump would slash business regulations and lower oil prices, the Journal reported. On election night, Bessent joined Trump at Mar-a-Lago.

He backs the idea of stiff tariffs, telling CNBC that they should be "layered in gradually" to spread out any inflationary impact.

In an interview with Barron's, Bessent floated the idea of a so-called shadow Federal Reserve Chair: Trump would nominate a replacement before current chair Jerome Powell's term ends in 2026.

"My idea is you just get forward guidance and let everyone know who the Fed chair is going to be," he said. "I actually think it enhances the credibility of the Fed."

Bessent's name is also being floated as a top contender for Treasury Secretary, the Financial Times reported.

A representative for Bessent did not respond to a request for comment.

Billionaire investor John Paulson is among the most traditional Republicans in Trump's orbit. The 68-year-old famously bet against mortgage-backed securities before the Great Recession.

Paulson is primarily focused on extending Trump's signature tax cuts and would work with Musk to make spending cuts, he told the Journal. Paulson, 68, also supports deregulation and ending the subsidies for green energy that are folded into the Inflation Reduction Act.

His friendship with Trump stretches back more than a decade, and his connection to GOP politics goes back even further. Paulson is in the running for Treasury Secretary, according to the WSJ. Like Bessent, he watched the election results stream in from Mar-a-Lago.

Paulson declined to comment through a spokesperson.

Gary Cohn, the vice chairman of IBM and former Goldman Sachs president, is working as an intermediary between Trump's team and Wall Street, DealBook reports.

Cohn served as the director of the National Economic Council and Trump's chief economic advisor between 2017 and 2018. He was among a spate of high-profile resignations in 2018.

Trump expressed fondness for Cohn at the time of his resignation, telling the New York Times that he'd done "a superb job in driving our agenda, helping to deliver historic tax cuts and reforms and unleashing the American economy once again." Now, he's considered one of the "Trump Ambassadors" on Wall Street, per the Journal.

In September, Cohn said that Trump's tariff plan needed to be "methodical" to avoid any inflationary impact. Cohn said he supports levying a tax on Chinese imports that are also made in the US, like electrical vehicles, but not on goods that aren't manufactured in America, CBS reported.

On Election Night, he went on CNBC to talk about what was at stake for the economy. He said that tax policy is a crucial issue and talked about the tax cuts of 2017, which he helped pass.

"The personal side of it — and I think people don't understand this enough — just the personal side of it has a cliff that ends at the end of next year," he said. "The corporate side will not change. The personal side will revert back to where it was in 2017."

A representative for Cohn did not respond to a request for comment.

The Apollo Global Management CEO is weighing in on Trump's team, the Journal reported. Last month, Lutnick name-dropped Rowan in a televised interview.

As the head of one of the biggest private equity firms in the country, Rowan, 62, donated $1 million to a Trump-aligned group in 2020.

Late in 2023, Rowan told Bloomberg that he was disappointed with both presidential candidates, who were at the time Trump and Biden.

Rowan went on Bloomberg TV in October and talked in part about the election. Though he stopped short of explicitly endorsing Trump, he signaled more support for the president-elect's financial plans than Harris'.

"You are either more scared of four years of the status quo, or more scared of four years of change," Rowan said. "You just have to decide what you're more scared of. Me personally, I'm more scared of four years of the status quo."

Rowan said that while the US is still the best place in the world to do business, he's concerned about economic trends and excess spending. "We're spending the next generation's money currently," he said.

A representative for Rowan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Blackstone cofounder, chairman, and CEO was an outspoken Trump supporter throughout the election and is now feeding Lutnick names, according to Politico. In October, Schwarzman said that Trump would be an "efficient and effective" president.

"I think he has a much better base of knowledge of how that job works," he said. That same month, he said that the economy was in fairly strong shape.

Schwarzman, 77, donated to Trump this cycle, despite having said during the primaries that it was time for a new era of Republican leadership.

A representative for Schwarzman did not respond to a request for comment.

Kevin Warsh has offered the Trump campaign insight on roles related to finance and economics, per DealBook. The former Federal Reserve Governor has served as a liaison between Washington and Wall Street and is also reportedly in line for Fed chair himself.

When he spoke to Squawk Box in late October, the hosts joked about his prospects, calling him "chairman-to-be" and "chairman-elect."

During that interview, Warsh said that the Fed doesn't "seem to have a serious theory of inflation that's theoretical and empirical." He also criticized the country's amount of debt, calling it "dangerous for our economy" and saying that it sends a bad signal on the international stage.

In 2017, Warsh was also seen as a front-runner for Fed chair, CNBC reported at the time.

A representative for Warsh did not respond to a request for comment.

Charles Schwab, the co-chairman and founder of the brokerage firm bearing his name, is also giving his two cents to the transition team, Politico reports. Shares of his company and other brokerage firms rose after Trump's victory.

The billionaire is a longtime Republican donor, though his company shut down its super PAC in the wake of January 6 and said in a statement that "a clear and apolitical position is in the best interest of our clients." Schwab and his wife continued to donate independently.

A representative for the Charles Schwab Corporation said that its co-chairman's personal political activities are separate from the company.

Ross Perot Jr., son of the late billionaire and two-time presidential candidate Ross Perot, is one of the private sector leaders helping recruit potential administration members, per Politico. Perot Jr. is chairman of the Perot Group, which manages the family's interests including oil and gas, real estate, and financial investments. He's also the chair of Hillwood, the real estate company he founded.

In addition to his roles in the private sector, Perot Jr. sits on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. Trump's transition team is leaning on some rightward think tanks for advice on appointments, Politico reported.

The senior Perot served as a mold for Trump in some ways, with his disdain for traditional politics and free-trade agreements like NAFTA echoing in the president-elect's early policies.

A representative for Perot did not respond to a request for comment.