Trump held meetings with several potential candidates for senior administration jobs over the weekend at his Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. While no new official announcements were made over the weekend, we did get a couple of new clues on potential appointments to key positions.
Of the open positions, the running for Treasury Secretary has emerged as one of the most highly contested with a handful of very successful candidates. As Bloomberg reports, Trump’s weekend meetings in New Jersey included sessions with Jon Gray, a billionaire democrat from Blackstone who vehemently supported Hillary’s campaign. Other candidates for the Treasury job include Trump campaign finance manager Steven Mnuchin; David McCormick, the president of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates; and billionaire Wilbur Ross. Jamie Dimon’s name has also been tossed around for the Treasury post though it’s unclear whether he would be interested.
President-elect Donald Trump discussed the possibility of naming Blackstone Group LP’s Jon Gray as Treasury secretary during a half-hour meeting the two held Sunday, according to people familiar with the events. Gray, 46, a billionaire who oversees real estate at the world’s biggest manager of alternative assets, is a Democrat who financially supported Hillary Clinton during the campaign. He’s one of a number of business executive to be considered for the role by Trump’s transition team, joining a list that includes Trump campaign finance manager Steven Mnuchin; David McCormick, the president of hedge fund Bridgewater Associates; and billionaire Wilbur Ross.
Ross, a distressed-debt investor, met with Trump on Sunday and is also being considered to lead the Commerce Department, people with knowledge of the deliberations have said. Ross entered his meeting at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, about 10 minutes after Gray exited his, which lasted about 32 minutes. McCormick later arrived at the golf resort.
The ‘in-depth’ conversation with Gray ‘included the economy, global capital markets and the world financial situation,’ Trump’s transition team said in a statement late Sunday. ‘Future legislation regarding the tax code and long-term debt were also discussed.’
David McCormick, president of the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates, also met with Trump. McCormick, a West Point graduate who served in the first Gulf War, later worked at Treasury and in the White House during the George W. Bush administration.
This post was published at Zero Hedge on Nov 21, 2016.
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