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President-elect Donald Trump will name longtime banker and former Goldman Sachs executive Steven Mnuchin as Treasury secretary, turning to a campaign loyalist and fundraiser for the incoming administration's top economic cabinet post, a transition official said Tuesday.

Mr. Mnuchin, 53, played a behind-the-scenes role in Mr. Trump's election, helping oversee the creation of a network of small donors that let the campaign compete successfully against the better-funded Hillary Clinton operation.

Mr. Mnuchin's longtime Wall Street ties—his father spent his entire career at Goldman—make him a traditional pick for the Treasury spot. But the choice is at odds with Mr. Trump's message that economic and political elites have left the country damaged. Still, his establishment profile may sit more comfortably with the Republicans in the Senate, which decides whether to confirm the nominee.

Leaving Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday night, Mr. Mnuchin, asked about the appointment, declined to comment. "I'll talk about it tomorrow," he said.

The president-elect also is expected to name Wilbur Ross Jr. as his Commerce secretary nominee, a transition official said Tuesday, selecting a fellow businessman.

Also on Tuesday, Mr. Trump selected candidates for two other cabinet agencies: former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao at Transportation, and Rep. Tom Price (R., Ga.) as Health and Human Services secretary.

The choice of Mr. Mnuchin is a contrast to another figure who had been considered, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, a tea-party favorite. He's a free-market Republican from Texas who is chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and has been a key advocate of overturning the Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law.

Mr. Trump, who has mostly populated his administration with supporters, would be getting in Mr. Mnuchin someone with a history of donating more money to Democrats than Republicans. He nonetheless signed onto Mr. Trump's campaign and took the post of national finance chairman, to the chagrin of some top Clinton fundraisers.

If confirmed by the Senate, Mr. Mnuchin will join a list of prominent bankers who made similar moves from Wall Street to Washington, including two of his former bosses at Goldman, Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin, who were both top Goldman executives before joining the department.

The Treasury secretary is the chief navigator of the nation's economy, overseeing the collection of taxes, the imposition of foreign sanctions, managing the public debt and serving as the chief connection between the administration and the financial markets and the business community.

In a sense, Mr. Mnuchin and Mr. Trump have now both taken chances on each other.

When Mr. Mnuchin signed on to the Trump campaign, some of Hillary Clinton's major fundraisers said they were stunned and annoyed.

Mr. Mnuchin has given mostly to Democrats in recent years. He gave the maximum $2,300 to Mrs. Clinton's presidential primary bid in 2007. When her campaign failed, he donated the maximum to then-Sen. Barack Obama's presidential run. Mr. Mnuchin also has given to several other Democratic presidential campaigns over the years, including those of John Edwards, John Kerry and Al Gore.

Mr. Trump elevated Mr. Mnuchin to national finance chairman and has leaned heavily on him during the transition. Now Mr. Trump is taking his loyalty to Mr. Mnuchin a giant step further, giving him control over broad swaths of the nation's economy. When Mr. Trump is sworn in Jan. 20, the success of his presidency will rest as much in Mr. Mnuchin's hands as those of any other presidential appointee.

Uncertainty still surrounds the most prestigious cabinet post: secretary of state. Filling the position has become a high-drama affair that has left Mr. Trump's team divided. A pair of top candidates met privately with Mr. Trump on Tuesday: U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican who is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee; and Mitt Romney, a former Republican presidential nominee who feuded with Mr. Trump during the GOP primaries this year.

Some Trump aides have said Mr. Romney's outspoken opposition during the race should disqualify him from getting a plum cabinet post, but Mr. Trump has kept Mr. Romney under active consideration. The two met for dinner together on Tuesday night at the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Mr. Romney's second meeting with the president-elect.

After the dinner, Mr. Romney sounded a note of contrition, saying he thinks "you're going to see America continue to lead the world in this century. What I've seen through these discussions I've had with President-elect Trump, as well as what we've seen in his speech the night of his victory, as well as the people he's selected as part of his transition, all of those things combined give me increasing hope that President-elect Trump is the very man who can lead us to that better future."

A former Massachusetts governor, Mr. Romney made an ill-fated foreign trip during his unsuccessful presidential bid in 2012. He met with leaders in the U.K., Israel and Poland and spoke publicly about top foreign-policy concerns such as Iran and Israeli-Palestinian peace.

The most memorable moment of his trip, however, was his statement in London suggesting the city wasn't ready to host the Olympics. The comment from Mr. Romney, who rescued the financially troubled 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, drew a searing rebuke from the city's then-mayor, Boris Johnson. Mr. Johnson is now the U.K.'s foreign minister and would be Mr. Romney's counterpart if he becomes secretary of state.

Yet Mr. Romney is now seen as pinpointing early on one of the biggest looming collisions on the world stage: the U.S. and Russia.

During the 2012 campaign Mr. Romney said Russia was the biggest geopolitical threat facing the U.S. President Barack Obama and his aides laughed at the GOP nominee, saying his remark showed how little he understood about the world.

Mr. Corker, meantime, said his meeting with Mr. Trump Tuesday was "an honor."

"We had a very wide ranging meeting, actually a couple meetings and his instincts on foreign policy are obviously very, very good," he said.

He added: "I know he has a number of outstanding individuals that he's talking with. I was glad to be here and glad to see more fully some of what his views about the world are."

Two weeks after the election, Mr. Trump is making appointments at a swifter pace than prior administrations.

Many candidates have been arriving at Trump Tower in full view of the news media, disappearing into the gold elevators for their interviews with Mr. Trump, and then reappearing in the lobby to offer their views to the media.

Passing through the lobby Tuesday afternoon was Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who told reporters to "stay tuned" for more appointments. "It's going to be a busy week," Mr. Pence said.

He added: "I think the American people are seeing the leadership and the energy that our president-elect is going to bring to the White House."

The picks announced Tuesday extend an olive branch from Trump Tower to Capitol Hill. Mr. Price is a close ally—and friend—of House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) Ms. Chao, who served as labor secretary for all eight years of Republican President George W. Bush's administration, is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.).

Mr. Price, if confirmed by the Senate, will preside over an agency that likely would try to dismantle President Barack Obama's signature health-care overhaul assuming congressional Republicans repeal the law.

After a postelection period holed up at various Trump properties in New York, New Jersey and Florida, Mr. Trump is about to embark on a campaign-style "thank you" tour of states that were crucial to his victory.

His first stop will be a sports arena in Cincinnati on Thursday, his transition team said. He will be joined at the rally by Mr. Pence, who is also scheduled to hold an event in New Orleans on Saturday.

Michael C. Bender, Carol E. Lee and Rebecca Ballhaus contributed to this article.

Write to Peter Nicholas at peter.nicholas@wsj.com and Carol E. Lee at carol.lee@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 30, 2016 02:45 ET (07:45 GMT)

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