'Protracted standoff': Reporter spills about 'absolutely crucial moment' with Trump's team
Donald Trump is struggling with a "crucial" decision involving his transition, a Washington Post reporter said on Saturday.
Economics reporter Jeff Stein took to social media over the weekend to spill about the details of what he called a "protracted standoff" involving a potential Trump team nominee.
"We're in a protracted standoff right now over who Trump will pick for treasury secretary," he wrote. "I think it sounds boring to a lot of people but it's an absolutely crucial moment."
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Stein continued:
"From all my reporting, my sense is that Trump is dead serious about enormous tariff hikes to rebalance global trade. So he wants someone who will actually implement those tariffs. But all the evidence also suggests he really wants the support of Wall Street and stocks to go up."
"So he wants someone the markets will respect. But it's really hard to see how he gets BOTH of those, which I think is part of why picking the treasury secretary is proving so hard," Stein added.
In a follow-up news report, Stein and other reporters said, "Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX billionaire who has become President-elect Donald Trump’s 'first buddy,' appeared to publicly pressure Trump on economic policy and a key Cabinet appointment."
"In a Saturday morning post on X, the social network he owns and runs, Musk praised a foreign leader’s decision to cut tariffs — the same import taxes that Trump wants to raise to the highest level in a century. Several hours later, Musk posted that Howard Lutnick, Trump’s co-transition chair, would be a better choice than hedge fund executive Scott Bessent for treasury secretary," the outlet reported Saturday. "Musk’s endorsement of Lutnick is likely to exacerbate the substantial confusion and even fear in Trump’s orbit about the central role Musk appears to be playing in personnel and policy decisions for the new administration."