Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that many critics fundamentally misunderstand that President Trump is driven by “his love for people” and “cares deeply” about Americans.
“President Trump creates a lot of strategic uncertainty, he creates a lot of optionality, and he has an incredible instinct for politics and people,” Bessent observed about the president’s traits during an interview on The Post columnist Miranda Devine’s “Pod Force One” podcast.
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“The biggest misunderstanding about him is his love for people,” Bessent went on. “He regards himself as the mayor of America, and he cares deeply about the 330 million Americans.”
The Treasury secretary contended that Trump’s deep affection for the American people has fueled his aggressive efforts to reshore blue-collar manufacturing jobs and to avoid foreign entanglements overseas.
Bessent had down with Devine on Friday, shortly after Israel fired off a volley of preemptive strikes on Iran in a state bid to obliterate Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. He praised Trump’s use of “strategic uncertainty” in the foreign policy arena to safeguard national interests.
“I can tell you that the American people should know and the American troops should know that Donald Trump is doing an incredible job looking after their interest and what could turn without someone like him could turn into a widespread conflict that U.S. Soldiers and interests could get sucked into,” he said.
Turning to what drives Trump’s economic agenda, Bessent recounted the president’s rally in Pittsburgh with steelworkers on the eve of the 2024 election and how the soon-to-be 47th president resonated with attendees.
“It was incredible. The steelworkers are there, they got their hats, they got the vest, they’ve got their families, and they… believe in him,” Bessent recalled. “He has a strategy, and it’s not a conventional strategy.”
“But what conventional person has ever done great things? Does anybody think that Winston Churchill was conventional?” the Treasury secretary added. “He’s also so flexible in terms of the way he looks at things.”
By the end of Trump’s second term, the president is keen on resolving lingering trade-related national security issues, many of which are very complicated, Bessent said.
Top of mind is the US dependency on China for key goods and raw materials. Bessent was on the team that helped cut a deal with the Chinese in London last week to revive a trade truce brokered in Geneva several weeks ago that had stalled.
Part of the recent deal ensures temporary US access to Chinese magnets and critical rare earth material in exchange for the Trump administration relaxing student visa restrictions and other “countermeasures.”
Overhauling US trade with China has been one of Trump’s top economic objectives in his second term.
“I blame the past administrations for letting this happen,” Bessent said about US reliance on China. “We will not leave in 2028 without having solved many of these problems, all of these problems. We are not going to be held hostage or over a barrel.”
“The idea is we agreed in London, magnets start flowing, we will take down our countermeasures, and then we’ll probably have another in-person meeting again in three weeks to see if we and do this mutual rebalancing.”
For Bessent personally, one of his leading goals at Treasury is to “stabilize the U.S. Finances and put that on a good trajectory,” ensure that “Main Street” thrives, and preserve the US dollar’s position as the reserve currency.
“Wall Street had a great run. And now it’s Main Street’s turn to also participate,” he said.
