<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joked that his sexuality is breaking the hearts of first lady Melania Trump’s friends.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Bessent, the first openly gay man to serve as treasury secretary, briefly discussed his experience as a gay politician. As a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, Bessent stated that he believes the president selected him for his qualifications rather than his sexuality.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I think that’s one of the reasons we had such a great team,” Bessent said on <em>The Axios Show</em>.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The president and his administration have focused on merit-based achievements, moving away from diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and policies. Bessent mentioned working with Trump and the jokes the president would make regarding his sexuality.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“He’ll occasionally tell me: ‘You’re breaking Melania’s friends’ hearts,” Bessent said. “They see you on TV, and they want an intro, and we have to break the news to them.”</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Bessent was asked whether he believed his sexuality affected his early career.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“I don’t think it did at all,” Bessent said.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In April, Bessent stated that the Federal Reserve was “doing the right thing by sitting and watching” to assess how the war in Iran affected the economy before deciding whether to cut interest rates. His comments indicated a shift in the Trump administration, which had previously pressured the Federal Reserve to cut rates.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Bessent noted that his actions and decisions in his role do not rely on subjectivity as much as in other careers.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“The great thing about money management is there’s a scorecard,” Bessent told <em>Axios</em>. “It’s not maybe, in sales, maybe in trading and relationship management, there’s a lot of subjectivity,”</p>