Sec. of Treasury Scott Bessent - Live From the White House

Summary

Podcast Summary: Human Events Daily with Jack Posobiec – Episode Featuring Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessant

Episode Details

• Title: Sec. of Treasury Scott Bessant - Live From the White House
• Release Date: March 27, 2025
• Host: Jack Posobiec
• Guest: Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessant

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of Human Events Daily, host Jack Posobiec sits down with Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessant to discuss pivotal economic strategies, international relations, and domestic policies shaping the current political landscape. The conversation delves into high-stakes negotiations in Ukraine, global trade dynamics, and efforts to revitalize the American economy.

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Trip to Kyiv and the Ukraine Deal

The discussion begins with reflections on a significant trip to Kyiv, highlighting the complexities of international diplomacy amid ongoing tensions.

• Host’s Anecdote: Jack reminisces about a past 20-hour train ride to Kyiv with Secretary Bessant, emphasizing the challenges faced during the mission.

  [00:33] Jack Posobiec: “Christ is king. All right, we're very excited to be here on Human Events Daily, sitting down with Secretary Scott Bessant, the Secretary of the Treasury. Scott, how are you?”

• Incident in Kyiv: Secretary Bessant recounts a recent incident where bombing occurred just hours before their arrival, underscoring Russian opposition to the proposed deal with President Zelensky.

  [00:51] Jack Posobiec: “There was no bombing. And the drones and all the rest of that. I said, said, you know, guys, did you call ahead? Did you let them know that the secretary was coming?”

  [01:02] Scott Bessant: “The Russians didn't like the deal that I was going to deliver to President Zelensky.”

• Deal Progress: Secretary Bessant provides an update on the negotiation status, mentioning the transition from a four-page framework to a comprehensive nearly 100-page binding agreement. He anticipates signing the deal soon, pending technical calls and participation from Ukraine's finance ministry.

  [01:25] Scott Bessant: “We have now presented the Ukrainians with the full, nearly 100 page document that will be the binding agreement for this deal.”

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Economic Strategies and Global Trade Talks

The conversation shifts to broader economic strategies, particularly those involving global trade negotiations occurring in Riyadh.

• Integration with Trump’s Strategy: Bessant explains that the negotiations in Riyadh are aligned with President Trump’s global economic strategy, aiming to reinforce the economic ties between the U.S. and Ukraine.

  [02:22] Scott Bessant: “It's always been part of Trump's global strategy. The original idea... was to show no daylight between the United States and Ukrainians.”

• Black Sea Transit: The discussion highlights the importance of securing the Black Sea for grain and mineral transit, ensuring uninterrupted trade despite wartime operations.

  [03:06] Jack Posobiec: “...the grain deal certainly traveled through the Black Sea unhindered or not being part of wartime operations.”

• Infrastructure Stability: Bessant emphasizes the need to halt attacks on energy infrastructure, including nuclear reactors in Kyiv and refineries near Moscow, as a first step toward stabilizing trade and transit routes.

  [03:55] Scott Bessant: “Taking down the temperature on infrastructure and shipping, transit is an excellent first step.”

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Tariffs and Trade Imbalances: Focus on China

A significant portion of the conversation addresses trade imbalances, particularly with China, and the role of tariffs in rectifying these issues.

• Trade Imbalance Concerns: Bessant discusses the longstanding trade deficits with China, attributing them to China's barriers to entry, including intellectual property theft, labor suppression, and currency manipulation.

  [07:22] Scott Bessant: “China puts up barriers... we are starting with the biggest trading partner... tariff, non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation...”

• Comprehensive Assessment: The Treasury is developing a scoring system to evaluate trading partners based on various economic practices, aiming to implement tariffs and other measures against those with unfair trade practices.

  [07:22] Scott Bessant: “We are coming up with a score for everyone... tariff, non-tariff barriers... and we are going to push back against that.”

• Economic Impact on Communities: The guest connects trade imbalances to domestic economic woes, referencing the adverse effects of the so-called "China shock" on American workers and communities.

  [08:17] Scott Bessant: “There is payback for all the resources we put in. If Ukrainians succeed, we succeed...”

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Domestic Economic Issues: Jobs, Affordability, and Manufacturing

The discussion transitions to domestic policies aimed at revitalizing the American economy, focusing on job creation, affordability, and manufacturing.

• Affordability Crisis: Bessant attributes the current affordability issues to the previous administration and outlines the Trump administration’s commitment to making life affordable and prosperous for working Americans.

  [04:35] Scott Bessant: “A centerpiece of President Trump's campaign is the making life affordable and prosperous for working Americans.”

• Job Creation: Emphasis is placed on bringing back manufacturing jobs to the U.S., reducing the cost of living, and supporting home and car ownership to enhance financial stability for Americans.

  [04:35] Scott Bessant: “We want to bring back good jobs to the US which have been shipped out... bring down the cost of owning a home, ... buying a car.”

• Energy Dominance: The administration’s strategy includes achieving energy dominance to lower energy prices, thereby contributing to overall economic affordability.

  [05:10] Scott Bessant: “We are doing everything we can to bring down energy prices through US Energy dominance.”

• Impact on Communities: The guest highlights the socio-economic challenges faced by middle America, linking them to the loss of manufacturing jobs and advocating for policies that restore dignity and economic opportunity in these communities.

  [08:57] Jack Posobiec: “You have fentanyl and migrants and crime and it's completely depressed. But of course you have a nicer television.”

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Taxation and IRS Policies

In the final segment, the conversation touches upon tax policies and the IRS's role in ensuring fair tax administration.

• Tax Filing: Bessant clarifies misinformation regarding tax obligations, emphasizing the importance of filing tax returns accurately and on time.

  [10:21] Jack Posobiec: “Is it true? So if you make 100, less 150,000, we don't have to pay Taxes, Right? That's what I heard.”

  [10:38] Scott Bessant: “You heard wrong, Jack... 70% of people get refunds.”

• Future Tax Reforms: He hints at upcoming tax reforms that will benefit taxpayers, including potential deductions for American car purchases and changes to taxes on tips and Social Security.

  [10:47] Jack Posobiec: “... but next year you will be able to the likely pay tax on tips.”

• IRS Fairness: Bessant commits to making the IRS more equitable, ensuring that audits are conducted fairly without political bias.

  [11:14] Scott Bessant: “Audit should be either flagged by something you've done on your return. Or should be random. It shouldn't be because your political views...”

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with Jack Posobiec expressing gratitude to Scott Bessant and the White House team for the insightful discussion. He underscores the administration’s efforts to reach new media audiences and provide transparency about the inner workings of the White House.

[11:45] Jack Posobiec: “This is a testament to how the Trump administration is now reaching out to new media, to new audiences... making it the people's house once more.”

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Key Takeaways:

• International Relations: Strengthening economic ties with Ukraine amid Russian opposition.
• Global Trade: Implementing a scoring system to address unfair trade practices, particularly with China.
• Domestic Policy: Focused on job creation, affordability, and manufacturing revitalization to support American workers and communities.
• Tax Reforms: Upcoming changes aimed at benefiting taxpayers and ensuring fair IRS practices.

This episode offers a comprehensive overview of the Trump administration’s economic strategies, both domestically and internationally, highlighting efforts to rectify trade imbalances, support American workers, and ensure fair tax administration.

Transcript

[Jack Posobiec]

This is what happens when the fourth turning meets fifth generation warfare.

[Scott Bessant]

A commentator, international social media sensation and former Navy intelligence veteran, this is Human.

[Jack Posobiec]

Events with your host, Jack Posobic. Christ is king. All right, we're very excited to be here on Human Events Daily, sitting down with Secretary Scott Bessant, the Secretary of the Treasury. Scott, how are you?

[Scott Bessant]

Great to see you.

[Jack Posobiec]

Well, you know, I have to say the last time you and I were together, we spent about 20 hours on a, on a train together to, to go and see President Zelensky over in Ukraine. Although I trust your commute today was a little better than that.

[Scott Bessant]

It was a little better than the.

[Jack Posobiec]

Night train to keep the night train to Kyiv.

[Scott Bessant]

And there wasn't bombing four hours before I came to.

[Jack Posobiec]

There was no bombing. And the drones and all the rest of that. I said, said, you know, guys, did you call ahead? Did you let them know that the secretary was coming? You know, apparently, apparently it was so secret that even they didn't know.

[Scott Bessant]

Yeah, exactly. So, but, well, I think just the fact that they bombed before we came in was proof the Russians didn't like the deal that I was going to deliver to President Zelensky.

[Jack Posobiec]

And so that deal obviously has taken on a life of its own after that. Do you, can you tell us what the current status of it, of it is, if any, as it stands right now?

[Scott Bessant]

Shirts. So after President Zelensky's performance in the Oval, he was supposed to come in a few Fridays ago, have a press conference, have lunch with the president, his team, our two teams we're going to have, and then we were going to sign a deal, four page deal that was a framework. There's obviously been some backing and filling between the US Relationship and the Ukraine relationship since then. I think we're on a good path now. So what we at treasury did during that time was we have gone straight to the full deal. So we have now presented the Ukrainians with the full, nearly 100 page document that will be the binding agreement for this deal. We have a technical call tomorrow. I would expect that maybe Ukraine finance minister will be here next week and hopefully we can get this thing signed.

[Jack Posobiec]

Now, is this, are the talks that are happening in Riyadh right now, is this a part of that or is this a separate channel?

[Scott Bessant]

Well, it's always been part of Trump's global strategy. And as we talked about when we were going into Kiev and when we were in Kiev, the original idea, and I think we can put that back on track, was to show no daylight between the United States and Ukrainians. So by signing this deal, Ukrainians will close, close at daylight. The US Will have an economic interest in the success of the country. The American people will know that there is payback for all the resources we put in. And if Ukrainians succeed, we succeed. So it really ties us together. It is not a security guarantee, but it is an economic security pact.

[Jack Posobiec]

And what's interesting is I've noticed that some of the first things that we're seeing out of the talks in Riyadh are also predicated on economics regarding the Black Sea and transit to and from the Black Sea, obviously for the grain, for the mineral deal. The grain deal certainly traveled through the Black Sea unhindered or not being part of wartime operations. Being targeted by either side would be a huge concept of that.

[Scott Bessant]

Yeah. And look, President Trump has also directed the negotiating team. I think one of the first steps was for both sides to stop firing at the energy resources, especially the nuclear reactors in Kiev. The Ukrainians, I think, had damaged some refineries near Moscow. So I think taking down the temperature on infrastructure and shipping, transit is an excellent first step.

[Jack Posobiec]

Absolutely. So talking about global trade, I've got to ask President Trump, he keeps telling us that April 2nd Liberation Day is coming. Of course, we saw the news yesterday regarding the press conference on, on auto, the tariffs let people know what the overall strategy is from President Trump and from the administration. We keep hearing the media tell us, oh, the tariffs are attacked, the tariffs are attacked, the tariffs are attacks. But you've been saying something over and over which I think people I understand. I think what you're, what you mean when you say this regarding that, that the American dream is not cheap overseas products. What does that mean and how do the tariffs play a role there?

[Scott Bessant]

Well, well look, we have an affordability crisis that was driven by the last administration, Jack, as you know, we talked about it during our 10 hour, 20 hour sojourn and reach way worst commute I ever had. And that part of a centerpiece of President Trump's campaign is the making life affordable and prosperous for working Americans. And part of that is bringing back good jobs to the US which have been shipped out. So we want to fix affordability, but we want to fix affordability, that we want to have good jobs. We want to bring down the cost of owning a home, we want to bring down the cost of buying a car. We want to bring down the cost of either trade or college education. This isn't a throw the working people cheap bubbles and they will stay in their place. So we are trying to bring back manufacturing to the US and concurrently we are doing everything we can to bring down interest rates, to bring down energy prices through US Energy dominance. These are all things that we, President Trump, promised on the campaign trail. And with the tax bill, President Trump, we are going to get through. No tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime. We're going to make auto interest payments again if you buy an American, a deductible again if you buy an American car. All of that will help the bottom 50% of wage earners and they deserve a break from what's happened to him the past four years. And President Trump and this administration are committed to that.

[Jack Posobiec]

Well, and this has been something that President Trump, if you go back to, I think, if I have my math right on this, he was 35 years old giving interviews. He's talking about trade and he's talking about these massive trade imbalances that we have. He said he looks at the balance sheet, says it's completely off in the wrong direction. And from my understanding it's, it's, it's people say, well, it's not just tariffs, it's these barriers to entry that we have. And I worked at the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai for a brief moment and I could see it was, it's so hard to sell anything into China. They'll find some reason to block it. It doesn't matter. Oh, I heard you have bird flu over there. So you can't sell any poultry or you know, mad cow disease is a big one. So you know, you can't sell any of the beef, etcetera, etcetera, and of course this was done to prevent access of U.S. goods into the market. So it's so what, what that helps to exacerbate these massive trade imbalances and then tariffs potentially can be a way to actually rebalance it back.

[Scott Bessant]

So if you were in China, you know better than anybody all the barriers that China puts up, whether it's intellectual property, whether it's cheap labor suppressing wages, it's the central government led technology, it's artificially low loans. So we are coming up with a score for everyone for each of the, we're starting with the biggest trading partner. So it'll be tariffs, it'll be non tariff trading barriers, it will be currency manipulation, it will be labor suppression and the subsidized loans. And we are going to push back against that. That because if you take China, which is the most imbalanced economy in the history of the modern World. Yes, their model is cheap export. And back to your original question. You know, I've been saying let them eat. Flat screens is not an economic policy. People don't want flat screens. They want dignity in their communities. They want good jobs, they want their kids to do better than they have. There's a recent paper out that talked about the China shock in 2004 and it talked about the effect on the workers was much worse, much worse than anyone had thought, that after these jobs disappeared, people lost hope, they lost income, they lost their communities and they lost their way of life. And we're going to bring that back.

[Jack Posobiec]

Well, and this is where you see, people have seen the deaths of despair that are going up throughout middle America. This is what President Trump campaigned on. And it's been something that he's been talking about, an issue that he's been talking about for, for decades because you don't have to drive very far to find devastated communities, even right here in the national capital region. And so much of this is economic. So, yeah, you know, and it's for folks who don't get the reference. The joke is that you always hear this from the sort of more libertarian Wall Street Journal minded economists that, oh well, flat screen TVs have come down, people can buy a bigger TV and it's just this canard over and over. Sure, you have a, you can have a cheap flat screen tv, but your town is flooded with fentanyl and migrants and crime and it's completely depressed. But of course you have a nicer television.

[Scott Bessant]

Right? Or you don't own your home, you.

[Jack Posobiec]

Don'T own your home, your bank owns or BlackRock owns or.

[Scott Bessant]

Right, exactly. You have three flat screens and a home you don't own. And that whole libertarian branch of the party, they kind of don't care about income distribution. They got in their netjets and went to Nantucket, said everything was fine. And they, they don't understand why people are mad. And like, I'm from a small town in South Carolina and I watch very good manufacturing jobs, I watch the whole textile industry and a way of life disappear.

[Jack Posobiec]

Right.

[Scott Bessant]

And South Carolina is rebooted. But it hasn't worked for everybody.

[Jack Posobiec]

No, it hasn't. And now before I let you leave, I do have to ask though, because you mentioned about the lower income wage earners. We know tax season is coming up, right? You know, you are the head of the, of the Treasury Department now. Is it true? So if you make 100, less 150,000, we don't have to pay Taxes, Right? That's what I heard.

[Scott Bessant]

Well, you heard wrong, Jack, is everybody needs to get their tax returns and get their filings. 70% of people get refunds.

[Jack Posobiec]

Right.

[Scott Bessant]

You want to get your refund, but the. Everything is the same as it was. The we are negotiating the tax deal. It will be for your taxes next year, but you should pay your taxes as expected. And then next year you will be able to the likely pay tax on tips. And the president's going to meet his promises. But the file, file early and get it done now.

[Jack Posobiec]

Okay, but, but, but we're good though. No, no, no. Audits for Human Events Daily. Right? We're going to be okay, right?

[Scott Bessant]

Well, you know, the good thing about what I want to do at the IRS is I want to make it fair for everybody. The left, right, center, and it's going to be right down the middle. Audit should be either flagged by something you've done on your return. The or should be random. It shouldn't be because your political views that's going to stop.

[Jack Posobiec]

It's as simple as that. Ladies and gentlemen, Secretary Scott Bessant here, Human Events Delhi. Thank you so much.

[Scott Bessant]

Mr. Secretary, thanks.

[Jack Posobiec]

Want to say thank you, of course, to the White House, to the press team for bringing us in today, for arranging these interviews, giving us a behind the scenes inside look to what's going on inside the White House. This is a testament to how the Trump administration is now reaching out to new media, to new audiences. And it's not about just us here, about Human Events Daily, but everyone that we go out and touch as we share this information and, and tell the truth about what's going on behind the scenes of the White House. Here for you in the confines of the incredible People's House, of the White House, really making it the people's house once more. Ladies and gentlemen, as always, you have my permission to lay ashore.