“Everything Has Been Alarmist”: Bessent Shuts Down CBS Over Inflation, Says US Will ‘Never Default’ On Debt

For months, all we’ve heard from mainstream economic pundits is that Trump’s tariff scheme would lead to absolute chaos; ports would be shut down, inflation would cripple the US economy, and markets would crater. The response was an April rollercoaster in stocks that ended the month higher, while the most recent inflation metrics had core PCE (personal consumption expenditures) coming in at its lowest level in years, while ‘supercore’ inflation (service-based inflation) dropped the most since COVID. So, just the opposite of what we were told would happen.

On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent disintegrated the conventional wisdom, while raking CBS News’ Margaret Brennan over the coals in response to the media’s fake news hysteria. 

The key excerpts from the interview:

• BESSENT: “Thus far there have been no price increases – everything has been alarmist. The inflation numbers are actually dropping. We saw the first drop of inflation in four years. The inflation numbers last week, they were very pro-consumer.”

• BRENNAN: “But you listen to earnings calls just like we do. You know what Walmart is saying, what Best Buy is saying, and what Target is saying.” 

• BESSENT: “But Margaret, I also know what Home Depot and Amazon are saying. I know what the South China Morning Post wrote within the past 24 hours – that 65% of the tariffs will likely be eaten by the Chinese producers.” 

• BRENNAN: “The reality is there will either be less inventory, or things will be at higher prices, or both.” 

• BESSENT: “Margaret, when we were here in March, you said there was going to be big inflation. There hasn’t been any inflation. Actually, the inflation numbers were the best in four years. So why don’t we stop trying to say ‘this could happen,’ wait and see what does happen. 

NEW: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent strikes down CBS News’ Margaret Brennan by reminding her about her own previous comments about inflation.

Another rough weekend for Margaret.

Brennan: “The reality is there will either be less inventory or things at higher prices or both.”… pic.twitter.com/eONA9xNqxT

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 1, 2025

Bessent also pushed back on a warning by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who said that a crack in the bond market “is going to happen.”

“I’ve known Jamie a long time, and for his entire career he’s made predictions like this,” said Bessent. “Fortunately none of them have come true. That’s why he’s a great banker. He tries to look around the corner.”

Brennan: Dimon predicted a debt market crisis,

Bessent: For his entire career, he’s made predictions like this, fortunately none of them have come true. That’s why he’s a banker, a great banker pic.twitter.com/Kk5q50jnZu

— Acyn (@Acyn) June 1, 2025

Bessent also insisted that the US “is never going to default,” as the deadline for raising the debt ceiling yet again approaches.

“That is never going to happen,” he told Brennan, adding “We are on the warning track and we will never hit the wall.”

Bessent’s comments come as the US Senate returns this week to take up President Donald Trump’s ‘Big Beautiful Bill,’ which includes an increase in the debt limit before the so-called “X-date” when the Treasury runs out of cash and special accounting measures that would allow it to operate it within the debt ceiling and still meet federal obligations on time.

“We don’t give out the ‘X date’ because we use that to move the bill forward,” Bessent said (yet, he told lawmakers last month that the US was likely to exhaust its ability to borrow by August if the debt ceiling isn’t raised or suspended by then.

“The United States of America is never going to default. That is never going to happen,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says ahead of a summer deadline to increase or suspend the debt limit, telling @margbrennan, “we are on the warning track, and we will never hit the wall.”… pic.twitter.com/ZKXPnd5FEQ

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 1, 2025

Last week the Trump administration lashed out at Beijing for what they said was a violation of a US-Chinese tariff truce reached in May. Today, Bessent said he’s confident that this “will be ironed out” in a call between Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping “very soon.” 

According to White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett, the call is expected to take place this week – telling ABC’s This Week that Trump “is going to have a wonderful conversation about the trade negotiations this week with President Xi.”

“My expectation is that both sides have expressed a willingness to talk.”

Top White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said it is possible that Pres. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will speak this week about the ongoing trade battle.https://t.co/URF3j1NkNa pic.twitter.com/wwwKkLdOjX

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) June 1, 2025

On Friday, US Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer accused Beijing of failing to comply with several elements of the trade agreement brokered in Geneva, insisting that China continues to “slow down and choke off things like critical minerals and rare-earth magnets.”

Bessent addressed this on Sunday, saying “Maybe it’s a glitch in the Chinese system, maybe it’s intentional,” adding “We’ll see after the president speaks with the party chairman.”

We are not seeking to decouple from China, but we must take steps to de-risk.

Withholding essential products from global industrial supply chains is not the behavior of a reliable trading partner. pic.twitter.com/wq4HkaECRT

— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) June 1, 2025