Wartime Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Declares That America Is No Longer Sleeping

When I interviewed Secretary Scott Bessent last Friday at the Reagan Library, he made a number of important points. Wartime points.That is why I have called him the best wartime Treasury secretary since World War II. First of all, at the direction of President Trump he has authored Operation Economic Fury, which is the Iranian blockade that will continue for as far as the eye can see, no matter what happens to the American negotiations with Iran.Mr. Bessent suggested there was no sign of letting up. No $12 billion in cash going to Iran just for their phony negotiations. Mr. Trump has said many times he’d be happy to have the blockade continue because the sanctions are working.Mr. Bessent has been unmasking Iranian shell companies, front companies and shuttering offshore banking networks.And consequently the Wall Street Journal reports there are more than a million Iranian jobless, prices of rice, meat, bread, and cheese have risen astronomically.And of course oil export revenues have been completely choked off.Then Mr. Bessent’s bombshell that America has seized roughly $1 billion in Iranian crypto with the help of offshore exchanges. And, to be sure, the use of the blockchain ledger. It turns out the advanced technology of blockchain ledgers is an excellent tool to capture the money of criminal regimes. As Mr. Bessent put it: “I think between five and a half-six weeks of an incredibly successful military campaign and then Operation Economic Fury, where we have really cut them off,” the Iranian regime is “at the end of their tether now financially.” The Treasury secretary added that he estimates some “40 percent or 50 percent” of Iran’s troops “aren’t getting paid. Police aren’t reporting to the station. Inflation is probably over 200 percent. They’re having to give out food vouchers. They have turned off the internet.” He concluded that “we are working with our allies all over Europe to grab villas and houses and properties. And this is money that’s stolen from the Iranian people.”Mr. Bessent is piloting this and it’s phenomenal. And that’s why I call him the best wartime secretary since World War II.This economic warfare provides the perfect backup to Mr. Trump’s insistence that Iran give up nuclearization, transfer enriched uranium to America, reopen and end any control over the Hormuz Strait.We can wait them out. It’s economic and financial starvation. Perhaps military action will still be needed, but the economic pressure meanwhile is a killer.Mr. Bessent made another important point at the Reagan library. And that is until recently America has been sleeping because of its dependence on foreign supplies for semi-conductors, large capacity batteries, critical minerals, medicines and medical equipment, pharmaceuticals — all that stuff not produced here in America. Even our shrinking American shipbuilding capacity.Much of this had to do with letting China into the WTO and hollowing out America’s defense industrial base, especially impacting Midwestern factories and jobs. But that is all changing, he explained, with Mr. Trump’s reciprocal tariff actions framed explicitly around national and economic security.And Mr. Bessent went on to emphasize an old Reagan axiom, certainly adopted by Mr. Trump, that economic security is national security. And trade security is embodied in all of that. And fortunately now with the reciprocal trade policy, America is no longer sleeping.From Mr. Kudlow’s broadcast on Fox Business Network.

Wartime Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Declares That America Is No Longer Sleeping

More from the New York Sun

‘End of the Great China Gold Rush’

Jerome Powell Takes JFK for Granted

‘60 Minutes’ Correspondent Scott Pelley Accuses Bari Weiss of ‘Murdering’ the Show: Report

More from the New York Sun

‘End of the Great China Gold Rush’

Jerome Powell Takes JFK for Granted

‘60 Minutes’ Correspondent Scott Pelley Accuses Bari Weiss of ‘Murdering’ the Show: Report

Justice Department Says It Will ‘Abide by’ Court Order To Halt ‘Weaponization Fund’ Amid Legal Challenge

Silicon Valley Backs Spencer Pratt as L.A. Mayor’s Race Tightens in Final Hours

How Oman Lost Its Mojo as the Switzerland of the Mideast

Arsenal’s ‘Anti-Soccer’ Approach Produces a Very British Backlash

Clerk Granted Clemency Following Apology for Tampering With Voting Machines Now Says She’s Victim of ‘Retribution’