Sec. Scott Bessent at The Forum 2026 — Building the American Economy for the Next 250 Years

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Y'all still look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. It's amazing. How have the last two days been? Tommy, you weren't clapping. Okay, good. Look, I think every speaker, every panel have just been fantastic. How about a round of applause for them? So if you're one of those speakers, don't be offended by the next comment. We saved the best for last. How about it? And the reason we did that is our next guest in this final conversation of what has been not just a very successful event, but I think one that will go down as a historic event as we make this pivot back to getting the good guys in power, is one of the great patriots of our age. And I happen to think one of the most substantive people in government office in a generation. We have a great video about a great treasury secretary. Please enjoy. [00:01:08] Scott Besson: Tonight at a defining moment in the history of our republic. A nation that knows how to build, invent, produce, and lead is never destined for decline. In this moment, where would you pay money? The United States of America. We've become addicted to this government spending, and there's going to be a detox period. What we are here to do is to prosecute criminal fraud. My worry is that the Fed is turning into universal basic income for P.H.D. at times. Let's not be lulled into thinking our work is over. In fact, it's only just begun. The American story is not self-sustaining. It requires each generation to decide anew whether its next chapter will be written by those who believe in this country or those who apologize [00:02:04] Speaker 1: for it. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Treasury Secretary Scott Besson. Thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. Mr. Secretary, I'm not aware of other Treasury secretaries who get that kind of warm welcome. Well, not since Alexander Hamilton. Oh, man. Beats still my historian heart. Yes. It is a real pleasure to have you here. It's always a busy day in your schedule, and particularly busy now. You've got a real important trip coming up next week we'll touch on. But I meant what I said earlier. I'm biased. You've been a great friend of Heritage and personally for a while. And you're doing a great job. But I think this crowd, which has heard all kinds of things about the event last week, is really focused on the future now. And we're counting on you to give us the last word of substance and optimism. Tell us, Mr. Secretary, about the American economy. [00:03:28] Scott Besson: Kevin, great to be with all of you. And I do have a very soft spot for Heritage. We have a great group down in Charleston, South Carolina, my hometown, where I will go back to when I finish my work here in Washington. And, you know, I couldn't be more optimistic on the American economy. And, you know, I think Kevin, like me, is old enough to remember the op that got run in 1992, where James Carville said, "Well, it's the economy, stupid." And then when Bill Clinton won, the New York Times, 10 days later, miraculously pronounced, "The economy's great," after George H. W. Bush lost. But, you know, I describe 2025 as setting the table, 2026 as the banquet or the feast. And, you know, when I think about the four legs of the Trump administration's economy, you know, they're all doing well. Trade deals. The president has done record trade deals. And we are bringing back manufacturing to the U.S. We have a manufacturing renaissance. Tax deals. The working families tax cuts, also known as the one big beautiful bill, had so many things in it. But when you think in nature, symmetry is beauty, the tax bill was beautiful because of the symmetry. On one side, you had very pro-business initiatives, full 100% immediate expensing of equipment that is permanent. Permanent. The immediate expensing of factories, immediate expensing of ag structures. On the other side, for working Americans, the president kept his four signature promises. No tax on tips. No tax on overtime. Reduced taxes on Social Security. 85% of our seniors now pay no tax on the Social Security. And the interest deductibility on autos that are made in the United States of America. So, he did that. You know, other things in there. Well, I think we're going to talk about the Trump accounts. Trump accounts, educational freedom, the ability for taxpayers to contribute to funds that will then go to states and down to families and children to be able to allocate either for school vouchers, public school kids for tutoring. So, there are just so many things in there. So, trade policy, tax policy, energy policy. The United States currently produces more energy than Russia and Saudi Arabia together. So, we are doing that. The other thing, too, is under President Trump's leadership, we are going to build the first new refinery in the United States of America. And the high gas prices were not an inevitability except that we closed down 90 refineries. So, Brownsville, Texas, I think the refinery is going to be finished in 2030. And then fourth, the deregulatory agenda, which I know the Heritage has championed in your economic policy group. President Trump said for every new regulation that goes in, whether it's financial, environmental, labor, 12 had to come out. That's a good ratio. Well, that was the mandate, but it's been, for every one, 120 have come out. Even better. So, when I think about what we're doing at Treasury, I'm trying to bring back community and small banks. Because more than 50% of them have disappeared since the great financial crisis and they power Main Street. And so, I think with this economy, I coined the phrase parallel prosperity. Wall Street always does great and Wall Street can keep doing great, but it's Main Street's turn. The Wall Street Journal called me an Ivy League populist. And I said, well, you know, you're called the Wall Street Journal, not the Main Street Journal. That's a great response. Yes. And it sounds like something Dr. Roberts would say. But, you know, both can do well. It's not either/or. [00:08:20] Speaker 1: And, you know, on that last point, Mr. Secretary, about it not being either/or, we need more people saying that. Actually, whenever that story was written, maybe it came up before. At Heritage, we were paying really close attention because what seems like an esoteric policy, revitalizing community banks, is so important for us, not just economically, but as you realize, because you are an Ivy League populist from South Carolina, it's part of the social and cultural fabric of individual communities, which are the, they're just the bedrock of the individual everyday American. And similarly, Trump accounts are too. And one of the things we've been trying to do over the last couple of days is not just talk about policy and where the conservative movement goes from here, but to attach human stories to that. I know a little bit about your childhood where your dad was very successful and then lost his fortune and then rebounded. And you, obviously, a self-made American, successful in business and obviously now successful as Treasury Secretary. I think you understand the importance of Trump accounts better than most people. [00:09:25] Scott Besson: So, my family and I, one of our philanthropic focuses over the past two decades has been financial literacy. And when you think back to old days of high school education, everybody used to think, well, home economics just teaches you how to cook. Well, it was actually home economics. This is how you run your household. This is how you balance your budget. And, you know, for young people today, you know, I, I just think like all the choices are buy now, pay later, crypto, these credit cards, um, you know, all kinds of snazzy mortgage, mortgages, some good, some bad, a lot of insurance products. But 38% of Americans have no stake in our equity market, that they don't own equities directly or they don't have a 401k. So, I think with Trump accounts, President Trump set out to create an ownership society. So, uh, Treasury has registered 70 million children with Trump accounts. And we, that they, so any, any, anyone in here, uh, children, grandchildren under the age of 18, trumpaccounts.gov, go and claim it. We've had about eight or nine million of them claimed. We're trying to, uh, get that up. We, so for children born during president Trump's second term, uh, Treasury is putting in a thousand dollar seed investment. So for four years, then we're also seeing, we've got some great philanthropists, Susan and Michael Dell put in 6.25 billion with a B. And the, they're, they do deserve a round of applause if I may interject. What a tremendous thing. And, and the, you know, look, whether you're a Dell, a Dell user or an Apple user, Michael Dell started that company in his dorm room at the University of Texas. And he is giving back, right? And, um, that, that, so there, thanks to Susan and Michael, there are 25 million accounts with $250 in them waiting to be claimed. Uh, Elon Musk is going to give one share of SpaceX to every, all 70 million accounts in January. So that's going to be waiting to be claimed. Uh, parents, parents and families can add $5,000. Employers can add 2,500. We've got more than 120 companies, uh, that are making this a, uh, fringe benefit for work. And, you know, it's the other thing too. A lot of families, uh, don't, didn't have a means to save. So you can throw, you can throw in a thousand, a thousand dollars. You can throw in $10 for a birthday, for a holiday. You know, my, my favorite great aunt used to give me socks. Now she could give me, you know, now she'd give me stocks. Um, so yeah, I see a lot of people had, a lot of people had that great aunt. I think you just started a meme, Mr. Secretary. Yes. So stocks and socks, but it's, it's going into low cost index funds. And is, I think it's going to be back to financial literacy. I think it's going to be the ultimate real time, the financial literacy learning. Cause families will be able to look and see the, how they account debt every day. Uh, at treasury, we got 15 learning modules for the children based on age, but we've also got it. Many of these parents have no exposure to the equity market. Little river, South Carolina. You were rich if you had a fishing boat or farmland. That's right. So, well, thanks for that explanation. [00:13:22] Speaker 1: I, uh, certainly at heritage, we are very high on not just the, the, the possibility of increasing the percentage of Americans who have an investment in the equity markets, but also understand finances in the economy a lot better. I know that's why you're so passionate, something that's related in my mind, at least, because it is a new technology that you and my colleagues at heritage tell me will really make us more productive and efficient. You know me well enough to know that I am not the biggest techno optimist in the world. Which means that when I hear the words AI or super intelligence, my first thought is it might change too much. But you also know that at heritage and especially at this event in the forum, we're letting everyone say their piece. So here's your chance. My colleagues put me up to this question for you to convince me that artificial intelligence will be a net positive. [00:14:14] Scott Besson: Well, here, I will pull, pull you from Amish to early adopter. Okay. Sounds good. You got six now. Just kidding. Uh, we only got 18 minutes. So, but. It won't, I don't think it will take that long. Look, look, the, uh, all technological change is the, can, can be, can, can cause uncertainty, can cause trepidation. Uh, I am not an economist. I'm an economic historian. And over, over the years, what, the industrial revolution, uh, electricity, the internet. Um, we, we've seen a lot of anxiety around that. Uh, I, I think at one point 1910, 1920, there were 10,000 elevator operators in the U.S. And, you know, the elevator operator went away and they all got jobs that 25% of the jobs in America right now did not exist in the year 2000. So, you know, I, I think with, uh, as the president likes to call it SI, um, what, what we were going to see a revolution. But what I also want to say is the SI, the, as they're called the large language labs, they're creating it. Uh, and the companies and the folks building the data centers have done a horrendous job, a terrible job explaining the value proposition to the American people. They have. Whether it is data centers in the communities, they, they, I think they had overreached. They, you know, became these mysterious things at the end of the lane that, uh, size of a football field. And what is it? Why is it? Why is it good for me? You know, on the other side, um, I, I think just like financial literacy with AI literacy and, uh, this idea, what I really want to say is that the U.S. is so far in the lead on this that in 2024, the United States had 58% of all of the computer capacity, compute capacity in the world. In 2028, we're going to have 80. And we're just pulling away from the rest of the world. And what we were seeing so far, I drive people in my office crazy because they'll say, well, you know, they'll try to get me to opine on things. What do you think of this? What do you think of that? And I'll say, well, no data, no opinion. And now everybody had opinions on, um, super intelligence. And now we've got some data. So, so far companies that use it are hiring more people. Uh, we have not seen, uh, the people who know how to use SI, um, are getting bigger pay raises. Whenever I talk to young people, uh, uh, late high school, college, just coming out of college, they said, well, is artificial intelligence going to take my job? And I said, no, someone who knows how to use it is. So get after it. You're telling me to get with it. What? Yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, again, but I, I, I, I'm sure you, you will have a cadre of people who know how to do it. And I, I think we're going to see some real upside surprises. Uh, six, nine months ago, I was asked, asking one of the leading venture capitalists in Silicon Valley before, you know, we'd seen any of the data. Give me the optimistic, tell me something about SI that is positive that nobody's talking about. He said, it was going to be a boom for small business. And it really, like, it seems like that's a stretch. He's been exactly right. I, I also had the honor of being the acting IRS commissioner, the, uh, dream of a lifetime. And, uh, but we're, we're at, we're actually making great progress there. And it's an honor to be able to run the agency because we, I get the collection and the spending, uh, but the, uh, at the IRS, we can see a record number of people fall filing for small business tax ID numbers. So we are seeing record small business creation. Uh, for those of you who know the payment company Stripe, I had the, one of the founders in the other day, and they said that they are seeing a record, record request for payment applications because of all the new small businesses. So I think, uh, Wall Street Journal had a good article two months ago, and it was about the advent of the one, two, three person startup. So something that might've taken 12 or 15 people. Now you can do it with one or three. So I, I really think, uh, the, the, the, the United States is a startup nation. And I think people are going to be able to kind of, if they got an idea, put it in effect. [00:19:26] Speaker 1: Well, what I will tell you, sir, is, uh, I'll step out of my Amish buggy and I'll try. And my great friend, Eric Korsval, longtime employee at Heritage, our chief operating officer has been the biggest advocate for Kevin to use AI more. I'm not quite going there yet, Eric, but you made a very impassioned plea. Thank you. Very convincing. Uh, all joshing aside, one aspect of the advent of AI that I fully apprehend is the importance of staying ahead of China. You and president Trump have been, along with the entire administration, really strong on China. You have a very important trip there next week. Give us whatever insight you can a few days before. Okay. [00:20:05] Scott Besson: So, uh, I'll discuss the excellent point that you make, Kevin, on staying ahead. So I lead our, uh, relationship and negotiations with China. And I will tell you, they are looking for every advantage that they can. Uh, we, we are six, 12 months ahead in AI, which, you know, in AI SI is an eternity. Yeah. You know, it's the difference between what the models could do six months ago and now is unbelievable. But what's happening is that the Chinese, like with everything, are copying what we do. Sure. Uh, there, there is a scientific word for it, distillation. And it, but industrial scale distillation or theft, um, but their, their, their models are very cheap. You know, another thing that Chinese are very good at, and their models are dangerous because they don't have guardrails on them. So I, I predict you're probably going to see a big incident somewhere in the world. Uh, I don't know who here saw the, uh, refrigerators and 150 grocery stores in France that got turned off. Well, that was a Chinese model, probably the, uh, the worst of all worlds, the Iranians using a Chinese model. Um, sums up the world, doesn't it? Yeah. But the, the other thing that sums up the world is, uh, the U S strong U S models are our best protection, that they will be able to put a shield around our businesses, around our personal finances, around everything. So we cannot slow down here. But again, I think the industry really has to make their case to the American people, which they have not done. Yeah. [00:21:57] Speaker 1: So another adversary in the world, in addition to China, Iran, you're playing a vital part of this. In fact, our colleagues at heritage think perhaps the most vital part in terms of economic strangulation. How do you, how's that going? What can we expect over the next months over, um, in, in that region of the world, in that region of the world on the economic side? Yeah. [00:22:17] Scott Besson: So, uh, with Iran, uh, the president back when I, uh, came into the position, told me, March, 2025, Scott, go get them. And we started the, with a maximum pressure campaign. I gave a speech at the economic club of New York. And, you know, I'd been in the finance business and I said, I know a couple of things about trading currencies. I think the Iranian currency is going to collapse. And for everyone in Tehran listening to this, it should get out. So it was at 6,000, uh, 600,000 to the dollar then. Now it's at 3 million. So they have 200% inflation and the economy is so bad now that the, uh, they, it's against the law to print the price. So it's a, it's a, I wish I could do that with some things. Um, but, uh, so this summer, uh, the president said really everything we got. So we started what's called operation economic outcasts and operation economic outcasts is the single greatest effort in the history of the world to economically isolate a state and a regime. And it is possible because we had six weeks of intense bombing, destroyed their Navy, their air force, a substantial part of their missiles capability, and importantly destroyed about 85 or 90% of their ability to reconstitute that. Now we have what president Trump calls the wall of steel, the iron blockade. So for the first time since Iran began producing oil, they have no oil on the water, no oil in the water. Our blockade, our Navy has been incredible. And then at treasury. [00:24:06] Speaker 1: Yeah. Round of applause. [00:24:07] Scott Besson: No, I, that, and it's amazing to watch too, that the Admiral Cooper will bring in some of the video. He's the head of CINCOM. We'll bring in some of the videos and a ship that's trying to sneak through there. Do not proceed. And then they keep going and they have some kind of megaphone that works across the water. It said, get out of the engine room. And then they blast the engine room and mobilize the ship. So nothing has gotten through. Uh, so they, they have no oil in the water, which I think is a big psychological thing for, for the regime. Uh, nothing's coming in unbelievably Iran, which has the third most energy resources in the world. Uh, they're so decrepit. They depended on imported gasoline. So now they've got three, four hour gas lines. Uh, they're not able to pay the police. Um, so, um, we're really squeezing them. And I think it's going to bring them to the table and want to, want to make a deal. Our partners in the Gulf, uh, have done a much better job of policing. Uh, we, we had to lead by example. So, uh, treasury, we cut, we cut the largest Egyptian bank in Dubai off from the dollar system. That put them under. They'd give, they'd been giving the Iranians 1.8 billion dollars in the past year. 30th largest bank in Turkey. Uh, the largest Russia, the branches of the largest Russian bank outside of Russia, the international branches. We shut those down. And so we've showed people we came to play. And, you know, at your peril, we know who you are. You know who you are. Cut it out. This is the absolute, uh, end of the road for the Iranians. We, uh, I got new authorities. We have shut down the airlines in and out. So I tell the, I tell the IRGC, which is one of the reasons they want to kill me, uh, that the, uh, if you like your country, congratulations. You can't leave. You can't go to London to see your relatives anymore. You can't go to Paris to see your girlfriends. And you can't go to Geneva to visit your money. So. You've been more successful than I realized. Yeah. [00:26:30] Speaker 1: One stateside problem that you've taken the lead on. And we're also grateful for your leadership on is the national debt. And I know that's one of the things that inspired you to want to be able to get into government service. What's is a question generally, sir, about the national debt and the deficit, but maybe within the context of what will be new majorities in the House and Senate. And your, uh, you and your team's approach to working with them on maybe getting some fiscal restraint. Yeah. [00:27:02] Scott Besson: So one of, one of the reasons I came up from behind my desk and in Charleston, I, I had the most beautiful walk there to work eight, eight minutes, uh, every day. One of the reasons I wanted to come out from behind my desk. I went to see president Trump, 22, into 22. And I said, you're going to win. I want to be in the economic team and I want to help bring down these debt and deficits. And if 40 trillion is a startling amount, but what is important is our ability to generate economic growth too. So what we did in the one big, beautiful bill that didn't get much credit. We, we had the first big spending cuts, 1.5 trillion over the 10 year window. The, uh, biggest spending cuts ever. So it, if we, if we can cut spending, constrain spending and grow real GDP faster than 3%. We were 3.4 last quarter, uh, Atlanta fed GDP now has this almost at four now. And this is with the Iran conflict. Um, but if we can grow above three constraint spending, we will start bending the curve. Now, uh, how are we, what, what's going to be the approach with the Democrats? I think I'm going to try to take something out of the, uh, Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich playbook, but it'll be reversed. That's the model. That's the model. The, uh, we, we, we have the executive, uh, they have the legislature and we'll, we'll see if they're serious in, in terms of what they want to do in terms of, you know, bending the curve down. We think, uh, there is a lot of, um, I, I think there, there are a lot of tax gimmicks that serve no economic purpose. You know, it's not a tax increase. The, they're, they're just a lot of, uh, crazy things in the tax code that I think can be revenue raisers without raising rates. Uh, and then, um, yeah, I, I think if we let the economy cook and the four legged stool that we've got on it, then we can be in good shape, but we'll, we'll see if they want to play ball. [00:29:12] Speaker 1: I'm just going to say that I'm glad you're in the seat you're in with that majority coming in, not just because of the business experience that you have and what's already been a very successful two year run as treasury secretary. But you also understand the politics of the moment in the general sense. And I think your, your referencing of, of the 1990s is helpful in that regard for what it's worth. That's certainly where our collective minds at heritage are, but I have to say as, as we move toward, uh, wrapping up here, Mr. Secretary, it strikes me. Think about the topics we've covered, the national debt, Iran, China, super intelligence, Trump accounts, tax credit scholarships. It doesn't sound like this president is slowing down. Uh, uh, no, exactly. [00:29:55] Scott Besson: I, I, I, the, uh, I always think how, how am I having trouble keeping up with an 80 year old, right? And the, I, I will say that the fakest of news, the fakest of news is that Donald J. Trump is slowing down. If anything, he's speeding up. Good. Good. And, uh, whenever anyone asks me, uh, what's the best part of your job? I said, well, many of you may think it's the president calling me in the middle of the night. And I was telling Kevin backstage, it always starts the same way. Scott, I didn't wake you up, did I? No, sir. I'm always up at 1:52 on a Tuesday. And I mean, he, he just, the net never stops. And, um, it, it's an honor to work with him. We, we've got a great team. And, um, it is, he's going to keep going. And I, uh, any, anyone who thinks that he is a lame duck. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good, good luck to that. Yeah. I said it all. Because, you know, I, I, I see it in the international stage. When, when he deals with these international leaders, it's just, it's, it's a different thing. Just his stature, his intellect, how quick he is, the, the, the way he pushes the agenda. And, you know, I, I see all, all these people who, the, the Democrats, or even some Republicans, who come in the Oval and they're going to give him an earful and they just melt when he starts on them. We need two more years of that. Yeah. [00:31:33] Speaker 1: So, last question for you, you basically get the last statement of this whole conference, where I wouldn't say that people, when they showed up, were down in the dumps. I mean, these are great American patriots, right? But we've tried to do our best job at Heritage of bringing in some other friends of the movement, other business leaders, officials, and putting some substance behind the optimism. Why should these folks, when they leave here later tonight or tomorrow, they go back home, be optimistic, but also, because you're really good at the practical, what should they be doing to help advance the cause? Yeah. [00:32:09] Scott Besson: Well, the, the, the first thing is to stay in touch and let, let us know how you're feeling. Because one, one of the things that I never did, the, the economic data was fantastically strong, but I, I always said, I will never tell the American people how they feel. Because after the, the, the Biden, after COVID, after the, the Biden train wreck of 20%, 22% inflation, people were skittish, right? And it, and it, it didn't take much to sway them one way or the other. But again, I, I'm data driven and looking at the data that they, in terms of what happened in the vote, there's a lot to see. Many of the, many of the races were less than a percent, where we lost less than a percent. Um, they had 2%. And we, we'll see the ability for the Democrats to act normal. Like, you know, I, I, I guess anything's possible. Anything's possible, but I, I don't think it, we, we'll see because there are a lot of these Democrats who run, won in what are red seats. It may, maybe there was a protest vote. Maybe, um, we didn't have a great candidate, but I, I think the Democrats are renting the seats. That, and yeah, I, I think it, we, we do the right thing. We're going to get on the other side of this Iran conflict. Prices are going to come back down. Uh, I, I think the trajectory is good. Um, and I, I think that the, what the president projects in terms of the U.S. being back, in terms of the border being closed. We, we'll see what happens down at the border with the, this new Texas governor. Does she want to open the border? Do, do they, what, what do they come out of the blocks that trying to do? Because, you know, I, I do think that a lot of these, again, the, the Democrats who won in red states and red seats are just going to be, uh, it's, it's kind of like a ski rope where the skiers come off. They're just going to be caught in the wake and not know what to do. And, you know, I, I can tell you when it, that the, the, the thing that makes me the most optimistic is when I travel around the world, that the, the U.S. just keeps pulling away. And sometimes when you're at home, it doesn't feel like that because, because of the news cycle. Uh, I lived in London for seven years and everyone said, was it great? And I said, the best thing about it is when you're on the outside looking in, it made me appreciate the United States of America even more. Sure. Because that, so I, I am so optimistic when I, when I travel around the world is the Chinese economy, terrible. Uh, Europeans committing slow motion economic suicide. Uh, the, the emerging markets, uh, I, I think a lot of the global south isn't doing well. And, you know, I'll leave you with this, that I think one of the president's greatest accomplishments is going to be taking back the Western Hemisphere. Absolutely. There's no doubt about it. We have more, that we have more pro U.S. countries in the Western Hemisphere than we've ever had before. That began with the, the seed in Argentina and presently. And it's just building on that because, and we're going to be, whether it's treasury, state, energy, are all going to be highly engaged over the next two years to lock in that opportunity in this hemisphere. And it's a great economic opportunity. It's a great, the, uh, military or to prevent the military, you know, it will prevent the immigration. And, you know, just the, the safety aspect of that from Greenland to terra de fuego, that, you know, the president's done it. It's a remarkable achievement. Yeah. It's incredible. [00:36:23] Speaker ?: Thank you. [00:36:24] Speaker 1: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, thank you for everything you do for America. And thanks for joining us tonight. It's great to be with you. It's great to be with you. [00:36:35] Speaker ?: Thank you. [00:36:35] Speaker 1: Thank you. [00:36:36] Scott Besson: Thank you. [00:36:37] Speaker 1: Well, I suggested to you, that would be good. It was, we have a few closing thoughts. So I will make one or two of them and then Andy Alivostro and Genevieve Wood will come up and close this out. Two things. First of all, thank you. Thanks for being here. Thanks for your optimism. Thanks for your questions. Thanks for your participation. Most of all, thanks for doing what you're agreeing with. Thank you.