Bessent pressed – Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent faced a direct question at a Thursday press briefing over President Donald Trump’s insistence that interest rates would fall soon, as markets largely do not expect cuts this year. The exchange underscored the tension between po
Thursday’s press briefing brought the fight over interest rates into the open in a way that felt almost immediate. After President Donald Trump’s repeated insistence that rates would come down quickly. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was asked the question that has hung over the administration’s push all term: when politics says one thing and markets price in another. who gets to be right?.
The challenge came from a White House national security reporter, Gram Slattery. He pointed to Trump’s public claims that interest rates could fall soon—claims the president has made multiple times—and then contrasted them with what markets are currently projecting.
“President Trump has said that we can expect interest rates to come down very quickly. a number of times — did that last week. but the market at the moment does — broadly does not expect any rate cuts this year. JP Morgan said this, Morgan Stanley, and so on. So who is right, the president or the market?” Slattery asked.
Bessent did not dodge the premise of the question. He acknowledged the moment as “challenging,” then shifted quickly to what he framed as the stabilizing factor now at the Federal Reserve.
“Well, I think — again, I believe that we will get through this challenging period now,” Bessent replied. “They are on higher prices. on the other side of this. I’ve said publicly that I think we’ll be back to substantial disinflation. but most importantly. I think we’ve got the Warsh Fed now. It’s a new day at the Fed. The treasury secretary and the Fed chair have lunch or breakfast every week. I had my first breakfast with Chair Warsh this morning. and I believe that he will do the right thing to balance inflation and growth.”.
The exchange landed on a fault line that has defined Trump’s second term: the pressure for lower interest rates, and the Federal Reserve’s insistence that it cannot be steered by political timing.
Trump has been agitating for a reduction in interest rates throughout his second term. including a public feud with former Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Powell criticized Trump’s tariffs and repeatedly rejected attempts to get him to budge on interest rates. He argued that the Fed must remain independent. warning that changing rates in a rush—driven by political whim rather than economic factors—could carry consequences.
Those tensions took a concrete turn last week when Kevin Warsh officially took over at the Federal Reserve. His path to the chair has not exactly been a smooth one. After grueling questioning during his confirmation hearing. Warsh scraped through on the narrowest vote for a Fed chair in U.S. history: 54-45. Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) was the only Democratic vote in favor. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) did not vote.
Standing behind Bessent’s confidence was the fresh reality of a “new day” at the Fed—paired with the kind of routine access Bessent emphasized at the briefing. He said the treasury secretary and the Fed chair have lunch or breakfast every week. and he described having his first breakfast with Warsh “this morning. ” positioning that relationship as part of how policy will be steered through the current inflation-and-growth balancing act.
After the interest-rate exchange, the briefing moved back to Iran with the next reporter’s question.
Behind the quick pivot to a new subject was the real tension readers were left with: Trump’s certainty about rates versus the market’s caution about cuts this year. and whether the political push will align with the Fed’s judgment after the Warsh confirmation that came down to the slimmest possible margin.
Scott Bessent Donald Trump interest rates Federal Reserve Kevin Warsh Jerome Powell tariffs Gram Slattery JP Morgan Morgan Stanley inflation disinflation Warsh Fed Fetterman Gillibrand