Scott Bessent reveals that Trump makes jokes about him being gay — to Melania’s friends

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent maintains that his sexuality played no role in President Donald Trump choosing him for the Cabinet. But he said that Trump makes jokes about his sexual orientation.

“He’ll occasionally tell me, he goes, ‘You’re breaking Melania’s friends’ hearts,’” Bessent said in an interview with Axios. “‘They see you on TV, and they want an intro, and we have to break the news to them.’”

Bessent, the highest-ranking out official in Cabinet history, discussed his work in the administration in a lengthy sit-down with Axios co-founder Mike Allen. The 64-year-old also said being openly gay didn’t significantly affect his career on Wall Street before he entered government.

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He acknowledged turning down a Naval Academy appointment because he was gay. Instead, Bessent attended Yale. But while his sexuality shaped his educational choices, he said discrimination didn’t hold him back in finance, even in the 1980s.

“It’s very difficult to talk about the counterfactual,” he said. “But, I don’t think going to Yale held me back. Maybe some people who went to other Ivy League schools would think it might. But I think that it makes you aware, and I’ve openly spoken about it before.”

Bessent said concerns about discrimination may have influenced the career path he chose within finance.

“A great thing about money management is there’s a scorecard,” he said. “Maybe in sales, maybe in trading, maybe in relationship management, there’s a lot of subjectivity.”

Bessent’s own department has faced criticism over its handling of workplace discrimination. In June 2025, House Democrats urged him to reverse a Treasury proposal to remove sexual orientation and gender identity as explicitly listed grounds for sex discrimination complaints on its Equal Employment Opportunity forms. The lawmakers warned that the changes could confuse employees about their rights and discourage reporting.

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“It’s deeply troubling to see someone who has benefited from civil rights protections turn around and try to strip them from others,” Rep. Ritchie Torres, a gay New York Democrat, told The Advocate at the time. Treasury did not respond to a request for comment for that report.

Allen asked about comments Bessent made during his Senate confirmation hearing, when Bessent insisted Trump selected him “not because of my sexual preference, not because Treasury secretaries with green eyes do better,” but because he was the best candidate for the job. Bessent stood by that assessment.

“I think that’s one of the reasons we have such a great team,” Bessent said.

Bessent was confirmed last year, days into Trump’s second term. His appointment made him the first openly gay Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate under a Republican president. It also put him fifth in the order of succession, ahead of former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who was 14th in line and the highest-ranking out official in former President Joe Biden’s administration.

Watch the Axios interview below.

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