Scott Bessent
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Secretary of the Treasury · United States
On the regime page: Trump administration
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“this is the single most important economic issue of the day. This is pass-fail, that if we do not fix these tax cuts, if we do not renew and extend, then we will be facing an economic calamity. And as always, with financial instability, that falls on the middle and working class people.”
Answering Chairman Mike Crapo on the expiring provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act at his confirmation hearing.
Testimony at the nomination hearing of Scott Bessent to be Secretary of the Treasury, Senate Committee on Finance, 16 January 2025, answer to Chairman Crapo (Rev.com transcript) Source
“Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire. Given President Putin's refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia's two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin's war machine. Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary to support President Trump's effort to end yet another war. We encourage our allies to join us in and adhere to these sanctions.”
OFAC designated Rosneft and Lukoil under Executive Order 14024, the first major Russia sanctions escalation of the second Trump term, citing the lack of a serious commitment to peace talks on Ukraine.
US Department of the Treasury press release, "Treasury Sanctions Major Russian Oil Companies, Calls on Moscow to Immediately Agree to Ceasefire," 22 October 2025, quoting Secretary Bessent Source
“For at their core, sanctions are not acts of aggression, they are instruments of peace. Their purpose is not to condemn nations or people to indefinite isolation, but to create the conditions that can hasten a change in behavior.”
Prepared remarks to a ministerial conference on terrorist financing hosted by France. In the same speech Bessent described Treasury's Iran sanctions campaign as 'Economic Fury' and called on European partners to take further action against Iran.
Remarks by Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent Before the No Money for Terror Conference, 19 May 2026, US Department of the Treasury Source
“Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear. Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated.”
OFAC sanctioned Autistici Inventati (Italy), Palestine Action (UK) and Masar Badil under counterterrorism authority, describing them as supporting violent far-left groups.
US Department of the Treasury press release, "Treasury Takes Action Against Violent Far-Left Terrorist Networks," 26 August 2026, quoting Secretary Bessent Source