Bulwark Takes: How Trump’s Treasury Secretary Crashed His Own Hedge Fund

Host: Tim Miller (The Bulwark)
Guest: Marshall Brandt (Annapurna Funds, appearing in a personal capacity)
Release Date: September 9, 2025

Episode Overview

Main Theme:
The episode dives into the checkered Wall Street history of Scott Bessant, Donald Trump’s Treasury Secretary, focusing on his disastrous hedge fund management, his public claims versus actual track record, and what this means for the broader economy under the current administration. The team also discusses recent news stories about Bessant's behavior and the nature of economic policy under Trump's second term.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Scott Bessant’s Hedge Fund Track Record

[02:00 – 04:10]

• Marshall Brandt explains that both he and Bessant came from global macro trading backgrounds.
• Bessant launched a $4.5 billion hedge fund after working under giants like George Soros and Stanley Druckenmiller.
  • "He started with 4.5 billion of assets under management. He shut down the fund with 577 million. So he lost 90% of his capital." — Marshall Brandt [03:31]
• Despite the pedigree, Bessant’s fund:
  • Was down 50% of the years it operated
  • Violated the Soros/Druckenmiller “never lose money” rule
  • Ended with a catastrophic loss of client capital

2. The Myth vs. Reality of Bessant's Wall Street Acumen

[04:10 – 06:00]

• Bessant boasts about “trading against Goldman Sachs,” claiming victories over the renowned investment bank.
• Tim Miller points out the disconnect:
  • Bessant claims tariffs are not inflationary, contradicting both mainstream analysis and his own former investor letters.
  • "His evidence for [tariffs' effectiveness], he doesn't have any. Except for the fact that he says Goldman Sachs has been wrong a lot and he made money on them in the past. That seems like bullshit to me." — Tim Miller [04:57]
• Brandt reveals direct contradiction:
  • "We’ve got an investor letter of his where he talks about how tariffs are going to be incredibly inflationary. He actually bet on that when he was running a hedge fund." — Marshall Brandt [05:18]

3. Authoritarian Economic Playbook and the ‘Sugar Rush’ Market

[06:25 – 09:15]

• Brandt draws historical parallels with Turkey, Hungary, and even Nazi Germany:
  • Initial years after a democracy slides toward autocracy often see stock market booms.
  • "In the United States, we've seen the same thing. Your stocks... are not up in dollar adjusted terms, inflation adjusted terms." — Marshall Brandt [07:26]
• The market’s resilience is due to a handful of dominant tech companies and foreign investment, not underlying strength or policy wisdom.
• "There could be a period that we’re headed into with the non-independent Fed where the stock market just goes vertical... but we know what happens when that happens, and that's inflation." — Brandt [08:15]

4. Protection of “Big Tech,” Red Tape, and the Hyundai Plant Fiasco

[09:15 – 13:50]

• Miller argues Trump remains friendly with the S&P 10 and AI companies, which buoy markets.
• Brandt points to state interference in business, e.g., the immigration raid on Hyundai’s South Korean workers in Georgia.
  • The president’s response mimicked Chinese “technology transfer” demands.
  • "It's fine they come work here, but they gotta teach our workers how to do it." — Scott Bessant, as quoted by Brandt [13:51]
  • "That's verbatim technology transfer. So yeah..." — Brandt [13:56]
• These actions, Brandt says, chill foreign investment and undermine international trust.

5. Trump Administration’s Trade “Negotiations”

[13:55 – 15:00]

• Trade deals resemble unbalanced, “self-imposed taxes,” with little prospect for real international investment or benefit.
• Brandt remains bearish on the long-term US outlook, despite short-term asset inflation:
  • "Is my outlook bullish for the United States economy? No. Deployment figures are bad, tariffs are bad, etc. But you're fighting the tape right now..." — Brandt [14:31]

6. “Elite” MAGA Culture and Cocktail Party Clashes

[16:11 – 19:11]

• Discussion turns to reports of Bessant nearly getting in a fight at a DC “executive club”—contradicting MAGA’s anti-elite branding.
  • The club’s co-owner is linked to Donald Trump Jr. and various failing SPAC investments (“Grab a Gun” down 50%).
  • "The co owner is involved with Donald Jr. in a SPAC... The company they decided to buy was called Grab a Gun." — Brandt [17:48]
• Bessant’s outburst—“You made me look bad in front of the Dear Leader”—suggests a high degree of insecurity and courtier culture in the administration.
  • "He was good when he had somebody looking over his shoulders... But now... he's mad because he's made to look bad in front of the president." — Brandt [18:49]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I don't see any way to view him as anything but a failed hedge fund manager." — Marshall Brandt [03:35]
• "Goldman Sachs's stock today is trading at an all time high... I think that's a weird flex to make." — Brandt [05:08]
• "Who didn't have a Great Depression?... Germany. Nazi Germany. Now the stock market went to zero. But... the first few years are pretty good." — Brandt [06:44]
• "It's kind of sad that Korea and Brazil are the advanced democracies that figured out how to handle their coups better than us." — Tim Miller [10:33]
• "He lives in a Barbie house, though, on the other hand." — Tim Miller [15:32]
• "This whole thing sounds kind of crazy, because it is." — Brandt on MAGA “executive clubs” and SPACs [17:13]

Important Timestamps

• [00:31] Intro of Tim Miller and Marshall Brandt, overview of topic
• [02:00 – 04:10] Bessant’s failed hedge fund history
• [04:10 – 06:00] Fact-check on Bessant’s claims and market wisdom
• [06:25 – 09:15] Authoritarian economics and market parallels
• [13:10 – 13:50] Hyundai plant raid and “technology transfer”
• [16:11 – 17:50] Inside DC elite, “grift clubs,” and the MAGA inner circle
• [18:49] The “Dear Leader” incident and crony insecurity

Tone & Language

This episode is direct, irreverent, and openly skeptical of both Bessant’s self-promotion and the administration’s approach. The speakers use humor, cutting analogies, and insider knowledge to puncture official narratives.

Conclusion

If you missed the episode, here’s the big takeaway:
Scott Bessant, Trump’s Treasury Secretary, misrepresented his Wall Street bona fides—his hedge fund was an epic flop. The US markets’ current buoyancy has little to do with sound management and more with global capital chasing mega-cap tech firms. Under the surface, erratic trade policy, questionable “law and order” actions, and authoritarian political drift threaten longer-term stability, even as the administration cements itself as more “court intrigue” than competent governance.

To get more in-depth, punchy news analysis, check out Bulwark plus and subscribe to the feed!