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| Steven Mnuchin expected to be named US Treasury secretary | Steven Mnuchin expected to be named US Treasury secretary |
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| Donald Trump is expected to appoint Steven Mnuchin, a Goldman Sachs banker-turned-Hollywood movie financier with no government experience, as his Treasury secretary. | Donald Trump is expected to appoint Steven Mnuchin, a Goldman Sachs banker-turned-Hollywood movie financier with no government experience, as his Treasury secretary. |
| The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Mnuchin, Trump’s campaign finance director, had confirmed he had been chosen for the job. | |
| The appointment of Mnuchin would appear to fly in the face of Trump’s campaign message chastising members of the business elite for causing the US’s ills and attacking Hillary Clinton for her close ties to Wall Street. | |
| Mnuchin, 53, will replace the current Treasury secretary, Jack Lew, who has spent most of his career in government or academia. Mnuchin will become the first career banker to take on the high-powered post since his former boss Hank Paulson was appointed by George W Bush in 2006 and ran the US Treasury during the 2007-08 financial crisis. | Mnuchin, 53, will replace the current Treasury secretary, Jack Lew, who has spent most of his career in government or academia. Mnuchin will become the first career banker to take on the high-powered post since his former boss Hank Paulson was appointed by George W Bush in 2006 and ran the US Treasury during the 2007-08 financial crisis. |
| Mnuchin, who is worth an estimated $40m (£32m), was in charge of raising funds for Trump’s successful election campaign. If his appointment is confirmed, he will have been selected in preference to contenders including Jeb Hensarling, the chairman of the house financial services committee, Jamie Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of JP Morgan, and David McCormick, the president of asset management company Bridgewater Associates. | Mnuchin, who is worth an estimated $40m (£32m), was in charge of raising funds for Trump’s successful election campaign. If his appointment is confirmed, he will have been selected in preference to contenders including Jeb Hensarling, the chairman of the house financial services committee, Jamie Dimon, the chairman and chief executive of JP Morgan, and David McCormick, the president of asset management company Bridgewater Associates. |
| The billionaire distressed-asset investor Wilbur Ross is expected to be named commerce secretary, the cabinet-level position that serves as the liaison between companies and the White House. Ross, a vocal Trump supporter during the election campaign, has called for “more radical, new approach to government” and an end to free trade deals. | The billionaire distressed-asset investor Wilbur Ross is expected to be named commerce secretary, the cabinet-level position that serves as the liaison between companies and the White House. Ross, a vocal Trump supporter during the election campaign, has called for “more radical, new approach to government” and an end to free trade deals. |
| Mnuchin is the second Goldman alumnus appointed to a top position in Trump’s White House. Steve Bannon, the chairman of “alt-right” – a far-right movement in the US – website Breitbart News, who ran Trump’s campaign, has been named chief strategist. He had previously worked as a mergers and acquisitions banker for Goldman. | Mnuchin is the second Goldman alumnus appointed to a top position in Trump’s White House. Steve Bannon, the chairman of “alt-right” – a far-right movement in the US – website Breitbart News, who ran Trump’s campaign, has been named chief strategist. He had previously worked as a mergers and acquisitions banker for Goldman. |
| During the campaign, Trump launched a TV advert that portrayed the Goldman chairman and chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, as the personification of the global elite, saying he had “robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities”. | During the campaign, Trump launched a TV advert that portrayed the Goldman chairman and chief executive, Lloyd Blankfein, as the personification of the global elite, saying he had “robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities”. |
| Adam Hodge, the communications director at the Democratic National Committee, said: “So much for draining the swamp. [Mnuchin] preyed on homeowners struggling during the recession.” | Adam Hodge, the communications director at the Democratic National Committee, said: “So much for draining the swamp. [Mnuchin] preyed on homeowners struggling during the recession.” |
| He said Mnuchin’s appointment was “a slap in the face to voters who hoped he [Trump] would shake up Washington”. | He said Mnuchin’s appointment was “a slap in the face to voters who hoped he [Trump] would shake up Washington”. |
| Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts democratic senator, called Mnuchin “the Forrest Gump of the financial crisis” because he “managed to participate in all the worst practices on Wall Street” during his lengthy career. | Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts democratic senator, called Mnuchin “the Forrest Gump of the financial crisis” because he “managed to participate in all the worst practices on Wall Street” during his lengthy career. |
| “His selection as Treasury secretary should send shivers down the spine of every American who got hit hard by the financial crisis, and is the latest sign that Donald Trump has no intention of draining the swamp and every intention of running Washington to benefit himself and his rich buddies,” she said. | “His selection as Treasury secretary should send shivers down the spine of every American who got hit hard by the financial crisis, and is the latest sign that Donald Trump has no intention of draining the swamp and every intention of running Washington to benefit himself and his rich buddies,” she said. |
| Mnuchin had been nicknamed the “foreclosure king” after buying up the remains of IndyMac, a California-based mortgage lender that collapsed in 2008, and evicting people who had trouble keeping up with their mortgage repayments. In 2011, Bloomberg said the “notoriously press-shy” Mnuchin was faced with angry homeowners protesting on the lawn of his Bel Air mansion. | Mnuchin had been nicknamed the “foreclosure king” after buying up the remains of IndyMac, a California-based mortgage lender that collapsed in 2008, and evicting people who had trouble keeping up with their mortgage repayments. In 2011, Bloomberg said the “notoriously press-shy” Mnuchin was faced with angry homeowners protesting on the lawn of his Bel Air mansion. |
| The revived bank, which Mnuchin called OneWest Bank, was accused by a judge of engaging in “harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive” practices. The Suffolk County judge Jeffrey Spinner ruled in court that OneWest’s conduct was “inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious and opprobrious” for the way it treated a Long Island couple in 2009. Mnuchin went on to sell OneWest last year for more than double what he paid the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for the assets in the teeth of the financial crisis. | The revived bank, which Mnuchin called OneWest Bank, was accused by a judge of engaging in “harsh, repugnant, shocking and repulsive” practices. The Suffolk County judge Jeffrey Spinner ruled in court that OneWest’s conduct was “inequitable, unconscionable, vexatious and opprobrious” for the way it treated a Long Island couple in 2009. Mnuchin went on to sell OneWest last year for more than double what he paid the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation for the assets in the teeth of the financial crisis. |
| Mnuchin and his family also pocketed about $3.2m in profit from money invested with the convicted conman Bernie Madoff. The money was not returned to Madoff’s many destitute victims because the Mnuchin family had withdrawn the funds before Madoff was exposed as running a Ponzi scheme. | Mnuchin and his family also pocketed about $3.2m in profit from money invested with the convicted conman Bernie Madoff. The money was not returned to Madoff’s many destitute victims because the Mnuchin family had withdrawn the funds before Madoff was exposed as running a Ponzi scheme. |
| One of the Treasury secretary’s first tasks will be to implement Trump’s tax changes, which experts have said will hugely benefit the super rich, while having little benefit if any for up to 8 million of the poorest families in the US. He will also be tasked with renegotiating trade deals that Trump has repeatedly said are leaving the country shortchanged. | One of the Treasury secretary’s first tasks will be to implement Trump’s tax changes, which experts have said will hugely benefit the super rich, while having little benefit if any for up to 8 million of the poorest families in the US. He will also be tasked with renegotiating trade deals that Trump has repeatedly said are leaving the country shortchanged. |
| Mnuchin’s first job was at Goldman Sachs, where his father, Robert Mnuchin, had worked before changing careers to become an art dealer. The younger Mnuchin worked at Goldman for 17 years, rising to become a partner before leaving to launch film financing company Dune Capital Management, which has invested in several of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox blockbusters, including Avatar. Dune Capital is named after beach dunes near his mansion in the Hamptons. | Mnuchin’s first job was at Goldman Sachs, where his father, Robert Mnuchin, had worked before changing careers to become an art dealer. The younger Mnuchin worked at Goldman for 17 years, rising to become a partner before leaving to launch film financing company Dune Capital Management, which has invested in several of Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox blockbusters, including Avatar. Dune Capital is named after beach dunes near his mansion in the Hamptons. |
| Speaking on Tuesday night, Robert Mnuchin, the founder of the Mnuchin Gallery on the Upper East Side, told the Wall Street Journal: “He’s a person of great integrity. [We] expect he will do a good job in this very exciting and demanding position.” The elder Mnuchin’s collection includes works by Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock. | Speaking on Tuesday night, Robert Mnuchin, the founder of the Mnuchin Gallery on the Upper East Side, told the Wall Street Journal: “He’s a person of great integrity. [We] expect he will do a good job in this very exciting and demanding position.” The elder Mnuchin’s collection includes works by Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock. |
| Mnuchin, who has three children from a previous marriage, is engaged to the Scottish actor-producer Louise Linton, who has appeared in CSI: NY and Cold Case. Earlier this year, Linton, 34, was accused of having a “white saviour complex” in a memoir about her gap year as an aid worker in Zambia. | Mnuchin, who has three children from a previous marriage, is engaged to the Scottish actor-producer Louise Linton, who has appeared in CSI: NY and Cold Case. Earlier this year, Linton, 34, was accused of having a “white saviour complex” in a memoir about her gap year as an aid worker in Zambia. |
| Mnuchin was educated at the $50,000-a-year Riverdale Country school in New York, and Yale University, where his roommate was Edward Lampert, who went on to become the chief executive of the company that owns Sears. | Mnuchin was educated at the $50,000-a-year Riverdale Country school in New York, and Yale University, where his roommate was Edward Lampert, who went on to become the chief executive of the company that owns Sears. |