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**APRIL 21, 2025**
I've said this time and time again, but it bears repeating. Unlike many news outlets, we don't have a billionaire benefactor bankrolling our work. We don't run glossy ads
in our magazine from high-paying corporate advertisers. Our ability to publish without interference, and with the boldness required for these dangerous times, depends on readers like you. We're committed to publishing uncompromising journalism to guide you through the chaos and give you the clear-eyed reporting that you depend on to take action.
I know economic uncertainty might make this a difficult time to donate. But your support, no matter how small, helps our reporters continue investigating the roots of this economic turmoil and the path forward.
If you value journalism that cuts through the noise to deliver clarity and context in these uncertain times, can you chip in to support our work today? [link removed]
-David Dayen, Executive Editor
Kuttner on TAP
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**** The Lone Grownup in Trump's Room
The Treasury secretary has saved Trump from more than one
disastrous impulse. But Trump resents minders. Are Scott Bessent's own days numbered?
Last Thursday, Trump explicitly threatened to have the IRS take away [link removed] the nonprofit status of Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, as well as Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). This came two days after Trump abruptly removed an acting IRS commissioner, and installed in his place Gary Shapley, an ally of Elon Musk.
That move came as a surprise to Scott Bessent, especially since the IRS is part of the Treasury. Bessent quickly persuaded Trump to replace Shapley [link removed] with Bessent's own deputy secretary, Michael Faulkender, a relatively mainstream former professor of finance who served at the Treasury in Trump's first term. And for the moment anyway, there has been no more talk
of abrupt revocations of the tax status of major nonprofits, which also happens to be illegal.
Bessent explicitly complained to Trump that Musk had done an end run [link removed] around him to get Shapley appointed. Thursday night Musk retaliated by reposting a social media charge from conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer accusing Bessent of colluding with a "Trump hater." That turned out to be John Hope Bryant, the Black CEO of Operation HOPE, who has worked with three presidents on financial literacy programs, including one sponsored with Treasury.
This was the second time in less than two weeks that Bessent acted to save Trump from himself, deftly isolating more extremist advisers. On April 9, financial markets were crashing, and worse was expected. Peter Navarro, the main architect of Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, was at the White House staying close to the Oval Office.
According to
**The Wall Street
Journal**, [link removed] Bessent, joined by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, waited until Navarro was tied up in another meeting. They quickly arranged an emergency conversation with Trump, explained the risks of financial collapse, and stayed until Trump composed a Truth Social post suspending the tariffs.
Thus did Bessent out-play both Musk and Navarro, in service of more prudent policies. I have no inside information, but it's likely that Bessent is also one of those dissuading Trump from trying to fire Fed Chair Jay Powell. On Bloomberg TV last week [link removed], Bessent described monetary policy as "a jewel box that has to be preserved," adding that he had "no concern" that Trump was trying to oust Powell.
[link removed]
But Bessent is all alone here. On Monday, Trump redoubled his attack on Powell
[link removed], and markets predictably cratered again. White House chief economist Kevin Hassett has pointedly declined to defend Powell [link removed].
It's far from clear whether Trump feels grateful for Bessent's role as guardrail, or whether he is chafing at the restraint. What is clear is that Bessent is an exception. In his second term, Trump has made sure to get rid of minders.
Bessent is the least MAGA-afflicted of all of Trump's top officials. He used to be a Democrat. He's polished and polite. He's gay.
For nearly two decades Bessent worked for George Soros. He masterminded the successful 1992 speculative play to crash the British pound, which made the Soros firm over a billion dollars. With backing from Soros, Bessent then created his own hedge fund in 2015. In 2012
he donated to Barack Obama and gave money to both Trump and Hillary Clinton in 2016.
With this background, how does Bessent feel able to restrain Trump from dangerous decisions promoted by closer-in ideological allies such as Navarro and Musk? One main reason: Bessent's presence reassures Wall Street, and Trump knows it. That's Bessent's trump card, so to speak. But as the Powell conflict shows, even Bessent's influence goes only so far, and Trump is sometimes willing to suffer massive hits to money markets.
Trump-world is a cauldron of intrigue. Trump himself is mad as a hatter, paranoid about disloyalty, with the attention span of a gnat. We'll see how long Scott Bessent lasts.
~ ROBERT KUTTNER
Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter [link removed]
On the Prospect website
Pete Hegseth May Be Too Incompetent Even for Trump [link removed]
Turns out Fox News loudmouths are bad at running the military. BY
RYAN
[link removed] Google Faces Historic Breakup [link removed]
A three-week trial began today that could force Google to sell off its Chrome browser, among other remedies for its illegal monopolization. BY DAVID DAYEN
[link removed] The New Democratic Divides [link removed]
They now encompass tariffs, age, abundance, and commitment to resistance. BY HAROLD MEYERSON
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