Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appeared on “Sunday Morning Futures” to discuss economic issues, including the cost of living and rare earth minerals, as well as the Trump administration’s efforts to support American families.
During the interview with Maria Bartiromo, Bessent addressed recent reports about China potentially restricting rare earth magnets to companies linked to the U.S. military. He responded, “I think that Wall Street Journal reporting is not very accurate. We haven’t even finished the agreement, which we hope to be done by Thanksgiving.” He added, “I’m confident that they will honor their agreement, and if they don’t, we have lots of levers.” When asked directly if he expected China to hold back rare earth minerals from U.S. military-related companies, Bessent stated, “I am saying the agreement is that the magnets will flow freely as they did before April 4th.”
The conversation also turned to affordability and inflation. Bartiromo noted concerns about rising costs for families and referenced a discussion with Omaha Steaks CEO Nate Rempe regarding high beef prices. Bessent explained that “the beef market is a very specialized market. It goes in long cycles, and this is the perfect storm, again, something we inherited.” He continued, “The cost-of-living, Maria, is two parts. So, we inherited this terrible inflation. We are flattening it out. I believe we are going to push it down.”
Bessent emphasized growth as key to improving purchasing power for Americans: “The real thing that is going to happen, that is going to give Americans real purchasing power increases, it’s going to be through growth. We passed the One Big Beautiful Bill.” He detailed a new initiative: “In July, families are going to be able to apply for any child born from January 1st, 2026, for the next three years is going to get a Trump account that’s a thousand dollars for each newborn that’s gonna go into the stock market. And that’s gonna be invested for the next 18 years.” He concluded by stating President Trump’s goal: “President Trump is committed to getting money back to families.”
