Trump swings this way, that-a-way with early appointments
Mixed signals as the President-elect doles out jobs between rival factions.
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US President-elect Donald Trump is close to naming former Goldman Sachs Group partner Steven Mnuchin as his Treasury secretary, according to a Bloomberg report.
The news agency says Mr Mnunchin, who now runs a hedge fund, was spotted at Trump Towers earlier today NZT.
He's said to be the Trump transition team's recommended pick for the key post.
If confirmed, Mr Mnunchin will become the third ex-Goldman Sachs exec to head the Treasury since the mid-1990s after Robert Rubin and Henry Paulson – an insider-lock that has gained the investment bank the nickname “Government Sachs”.
Mr Mnunchin would also become Mr Trump’s second “Establishment” pick following his appointment of Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus as his chief-of-staff yesterday. It's not for nothing Mr Piebus is called "the Establishment's favourite"; he has close ties to House Speaker Paul Ryan; it's hard to imagine anyone more inside The Beltway.
Mr Trump’s mob of “drain the swamp” supporters may not be enthused by the Mnunchin and Priebus appointments, the president-elect did through them a bone by naming alt-right publisher Stephen Bannon his “chief strategist.”
Mr Bannon — who was so influential as a campaign team insider with his "Let Trump be Trump" philosophy — actually began his career with Goldman Sachs. But as a rabble-rousing online publisher, he said his experience at the Wall Street firm only served to awaken him to the dangers of "crony capitalism".
A delicate balancing act lies ahead for a man not known for that trait.
In other Trump transition developments today, oil company executive Harold Hamm — a fracking advocate — was tipped to be named Energy secretary in the president-elect's cabinet.
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Trump swings this way, that-a-way with early appointments
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