Agency: U.S. Department of the Treasury Role: Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs; Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, International Affairs (March 2025–present) Severity: P2

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• Bio and Background
• Role and Communications Function
• Messaging Strategy
• Significant Public Statements
• Controversies
• Overall Veracity Track Record
• Social Media Accounts
• Key Source Links

Bio and Background {#bio}

Elliott Yoshio Hulse was born in Shimoda, Japan and raised in Diamond Bar, California. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and Political Science from the University of California, Riverside.

His career trajectory moves through Republican political operations, government communications, and international financial institution communications:

• California State Assembly: Early career position in state government communications
• Republican National Committee: Research analyst role during formative partisan communications career
• Trump 2016 Campaign: Role in campaign communications infrastructure
• First Trump Administration — Treasury Office of Public Affairs: Served in public affairs during Trump’s first term
• White House Office of Communications: Served as Associate Director of Research in the White House Office of Communications during the first Trump administration
• World Bank Group — Communications Aide to President: Served as Communications Aide to David R. Malpass, 13th President of the World Bank Group, managing presidential executive communications and advising on media strategy, public diplomacy, and digital engagement
• World Bank Group — International Media Lead, Japan: Served as International Media Lead for Japan, leading the Bank Group’s corporate communications team in Tokyo
• Second Trump Administration — Treasury: Returned to Treasury in March 2025 as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (International Affairs). Later designated Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs while continuing the Deputy role

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury press release, “Treasury Department Announces New Appointments,” home.treasury.gov, 2025. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0479

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury press release announcing Hulse’s initial appointment, home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0044

Role and Communications Function {#role}

As Acting Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs (International Affairs), Hulse is Treasury’s principal communications officer. In this capacity he:

• Oversees all Treasury press operations, media statements, and spokesperson functions
• Manages public communications on Secretary Bessent’s behalf on trade negotiations, tariff policy, sanctions, and broader economic messaging
• Coordinates Treasury messaging with White House communications operations
• Handles international economic communications, given his dual role covering International Affairs

The Treasury Office of Public Affairs is the institutional voice for the most consequential economic policy actions of the Trump administration: Liberation Day tariff announcements, the subsequent 90-day tariff pause, China trade negotiations, and dollar/market communications.

Source: Treasury press release sb0479, home.treasury.gov; ExecutiveGov, “Treasury Announces 19 Senior Appointments,” executivegov.com.

Messaging Strategy {#messaging-strategy}

Treasury’s public affairs operation under Hulse operates within the broader Trump administration messaging framework on economic policy, which is characterized by:

Tariff framing: Treasury statements consistently frame tariffs as a strategic negotiating tool and economic sovereignty measure rather than a cost passed to consumers. Secretary Bessent’s public statements (which Hulse coordinates) have framed the Liberation Day tariff pause as “the president’s strategy all along” — a retrospective framing that conflicts with his pre-administration investor communications in which he wrote “tariffs are inflationary.”

Market reassurance: A core function of Treasury communications is managing market confidence during trade volatility. Hulse’s office coordinates press access to Bessent for market-soothing statements.

International dimensions: Hulse’s specific portfolio includes international affairs communications, covering bilateral trade deal messaging, China negotiations, and dollar policy statements.

Source: Washington Examiner, “How Scott Bessent got Trump ‘over the finish line’ on tariff pause,” April 2025; CNN, “‘The best chance we’ve got’: Can Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent save the world from trade Armageddon?” May 2025.

Significant Public Statements {#statements}

Hulse’s public statement record as a spokesperson is limited — consistent with his institutional role as a communications manager rather than a public-facing spokesperson. The statements attributable to Treasury’s Office of Public Affairs under his tenure (which Hulse oversees) include:

On tariff policy: Treasury statements during the Liberation Day tariff period (April 2025) and subsequent 90-day pause characterized the administration’s market-disrupting tariff rollout as a strategic plan that was “always” intended to produce negotiations — a framing widely noted by financial press as inconsistent with market reactions at the time.

Note on source attribution: Because Treasury press statements are typically issued under the agency’s name or attributed to the Secretary, Hulse’s individual statement record is not fully distinguishable from institutional statements. This profile will be updated as attributable statements are documented.

Controversies {#controversies}

Bessent tariff contradiction: Hulse coordinates messaging for Secretary Bessent, who — as documented by the Wall Street Journal — wrote in a February 2024 letter to his hedge fund investors: “Tariffs are inflationary and would strengthen the dollar. Hardly a good starting point for a U.S. industrial renaissance … The tariff gun will always be loaded and on the table but rarely discharged.” Bessent subsequently denied having written this at a congressional hearing, despite documented reporting. Hulse’s office is responsible for managing communications around this credibility issue.

Source: AOL Finance / Wall Street Journal reporting, “Scott Bessent’s ‘gotcha’ moment on Trump’s tariffs and inflation,” 2026.

Overall Veracity Track Record {#track-record}

Overall rating: Insufficient record

Hulse has served as a communications manager rather than a public spokesperson. Individual attributable statements are not yet sufficiently documented to support a veracity assessment. The accountability significance of this profile is the institutional position: as Treasury’s acting public affairs chief, Hulse manages communications for one of the most consequential economic policy operations in the administration.

Spokesperson Misinformation Assessment {#misinformation-assessment}

Designation: None

Advocacy vs. Misinformation determination: Hulse’s documented in-role conduct consists of managing Treasury press operations and institutional messaging on tariffs, trade, and dollar policy on Secretary Bessent’s behalf — favorable framing and ordinary message discipline for the administration’s economic agenda; the profile contains no in-window statements individually attributable to him carrying institutional fact-check ratings sufficient to establish a pattern of knowing misinformation.