Scott Bessent

US Secretary of the Treasury - Overseeing US sanctions enforcement

The G7 set Russian oil at $60 per barrel in December 2022—a novel attempt to starve the Kremlin of war funds without triggering a global energy crisis. Since late January 2026, the UK and EU have enforced a reduced cap of $44.10 using a new automatic mechanism that adjusts every 22 weeks to stay 15% below market prices; the United States has not joined this latest reduction.

Updated Feb 16

Secretary of the Treasury - Serving as 79th Treasury Secretary

John Hurley spent seven months as the Treasury Department's chief sanctions enforcer before friction with Secretary Scott Bessent pushed him toward the exit. His expected departure follows months of internal clashes over how aggressively to wield America's most potent non-military weapon—economic sanctions—and against whom.

Updated Feb 15

US Treasury Secretary - Active in trade negotiations

India has been the world's second-largest buyer of Russian oil since 2022, snapping up discounted crude while Western nations sanctioned Moscow. On February 2, 2026, President Donald Trump announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop those purchases entirely in exchange for American tariff cuts from 50% to 18%, ending a trade war that had escalated for nearly a year. A US-India Joint Statement released around February 6-9 outlined an Interim Trade Agreement framework, confirming India's intent to purchase $500 billion in US energy, technology, aircraft, and coal over five years; tariff reductions/eliminations on US goods; and US suspension of the additional 25% Russian oil tariff effective February 7 via Executive Order. However, Modi has publicly confirmed only the tariff reduction, Indian refiners received no instructions to halt imports, and the deal lacks full binding enforcement amid shadow logistics risks.

Updated Feb 11

79th United States Secretary of the Treasury - Serving as Treasury Secretary since January 2025

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's February 2026 congressional testimony shattered norms of Treasury oversight: two days of shouting matches with House Democrats (Maxine Waters asking to 'shut him up,' Gregory Meeks calling him a 'flunky'), followed by heated Senate Banking Committee exchanges where Democratic Senator Jack Reed called his conduct 'childish' and Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed him on whether Fed nominee Kevin Warsh would face investigations if interest rates aren't cut as Trump demands. Bessent refused to clarify, prompting Warren to call the situation 'an even taller steaming pile of corruption.' The hearings devolved into what one former Treasury official called a role 'you typically don't see a treasury secretary play.'

Updated Feb 5

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury - Expressed opposition to Powell investigation internally

On January 30, 2026, President Trump nominated former Fed Governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair when his term expires in May. Markets reacted violently: gold, which had surged to a record $5,626 per ounce amid the constitutional crisis over Powell's criminal investigation, plunged 11% in hours as investors bet Warsh would preserve central bank independence. Silver crashed 30% in its worst day since 1980. The dollar index spiked to 97.14, recovering from multi-year lows below 96. However, by February 3-5, gold rebounded to $5,070 as investors reassessed the confirmation timeline and Powell investigation trajectory. The rally began January 26 when gold broke $5,000 for the first time, driven by the unprecedented DOJ grand jury subpoenas served January 9 over Powell's congressional testimony about a $2.5 billion headquarters renovation.

Updated Feb 5

U.S. Treasury Secretary - Lead U.S. negotiator on China trade

In April 2025, U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods peaked at 145 percent. Nine months later, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping describe their relationship as 'extremely good' and are planning four bilateral summits in 2026, including Trump's first visit to Beijing since 2017.

Updated Feb 5

Treasury Secretary and Acting IRS Commissioner - Currently serving dual role after Billy Long's removal

The Internal Revenue Service opened the 2026 tax filing season on January 26 with the first implementation of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Signed on July 4, 2025, the sweeping tax law permanently extends the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions that were set to expire in December 2025, while adding new deductions for tips, overtime pay, car loan interest, and an enhanced deduction for seniors. Taxpayers will encounter a new form—Schedule 1-A—to claim these benefits, and employers are navigating updated W-2 reporting requirements that separately track qualified overtime and tips.

Updated Jan 31

United States Treasury Secretary - Leading Trump Accounts rollout

The United States has never offered universal investment accounts to children. Starting July 4, 2026, every American born between 2025 and 2028 will receive $1,000 from the Treasury Department deposited into a stock market index fund—accessible at age 18 for education, homebuying, or starting a business. Over 1 million families enrolled in the program's first week.

Updated Jan 31

U.S. Treasury Secretary - Publicly criticized EU-India trade deal

India and the European Union became strategic partners in 2004. Twenty-one years later, at the 16th EU-India Summit on January 27, 2026, they signed a Security and Defence Partnership that makes India the third Asian country—after Japan and South Korea—to gain formal access to European defence initiatives. The two sides also concluded negotiations on a historic free trade agreement covering 2 billion people and representing a combined market of $27 trillion. Once the FTA completes legal vetting and enters force in 2027, Indian firms will be able to participate in the EU's €150 billion SAFE rearmament programme.

Updated Jan 30

U.S. Treasury Secretary - Led first Russia sanctions action of Trump's second term with Rosneft/Lukoil designations in October 2025

Sanctions are supposed to close doors. On December 17, the U.S. quietly propped two doors back open—again—even as it slammed others shut. One narrow lane keeps Sakhalin-2 crude flowing to Japan. The other preserves financial channels for civil nuclear projects, even when payments touch sanctioned Russian banks. Both carve-outs now run through June 18, 2026.

Updated Jan 30

Treasury Secretary - Privately opposed to Powell investigation

No president has ever criminally investigated a sitting Federal Reserve chair. When Trump's Justice Department served Jerome Powell with grand jury subpoenas on January 11, two Republican senators announced they would block all Fed nominees until the probe ends. With a 13-11 GOP majority on the Banking Committee, even one defection creates a confirmation stalemate.

Updated Jan 28

U.S. Treasury Secretary - Defending Trump's Greenland approach at Davos

The United States has operated military bases in Greenland since 1941, under agreements with Denmark. On January 15, 2026, NATO allies deployed troops to the island to counter U.S. pressure after American-Danish talks collapsed. On January 17, President Trump announced 10% tariffs on eight European countries—Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom—rising to 25% by June unless 'a deal is reached for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.' On January 20, Trump declared on Truth Social that 'there can be no going back' on Greenland, calling it 'imperative for National and World Security.' That same day, Denmark deployed its Army Chief, General Peter Boysen, alongside 58 additional troops to Greenland, bringing total Danish military presence to approximately 178 personnel for Operation Arctic Endurance.

Updated Jan 21

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury - Announced sanctions on Iranian officials

On December 28, shopkeepers in Tehran's Grand Bazaar closed their stalls and took to the streets. The Iranian rial had just hit 1.4 million to the dollar—double its value from a year earlier. Within days, the protests spread to all 31 provinces, evolved from economic grievances into demands for regime change, and drew comparisons to the 1979 revolution that brought the Islamic Republic to power.

Updated Jan 20

Treasury Secretary - Leading search for Powell's replacement; expects announcement in January 2026

For the fifth consecutive year, U.S. inflation will finish above the Federal Reserve's 2% target. December's CPI report showed prices rising 2.7% year-over-year—unchanged from November and 0.7 percentage points above the Fed's goal. Core inflation came in at 2.6%, slightly below forecasts. The data confirms what markets already expected: no rate cut at the January 27-28 FOMC meeting, where the Fed will also release updated economic projections.

Updated Jan 15

U.S. Treasury Secretary - Overseeing FinCEN's review and potential revision of investment adviser AML rule

FinCEN just delayed anti-money laundering rules for investment advisers by two years, pushing compliance from January 2026 to January 2028. It's the fourth time since 2002 that federal regulators have tried—and struggled—to close what transparency advocates call a $125 trillion loophole that sanctioned Russian oligarchs, corrupt foreign officials, and fraudsters exploit to access U.S. markets. The rule would force 15,000 advisory firms to implement the same suspicious activity reporting that banks face.

Updated Jan 2

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury - Leading Treasury’s cartel-focused sanctions push

After Treasury sanctioned the Cartel de Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL) and its jailed leader José Antonio Yépez Ortiz (“El Marro”) on December 17, 2025, Washington’s campaign against huachicol money moved quickly toward the infrastructure that can make stolen hydrocarbons tradable: shipping, routing, and due diligence.

Updated Dec 20, 2025

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury - Expanded financial pressure with new Venezuela-linked designations and a Citgo-related licensing move that intersects with creditor litigation and asset-sale proceedings.

Trump’s Venezuela “blockade” threat is no longer just rhetoric—it’s being scaffolded by fresh Treasury actions and a widening target universe. Since the blockade announcement, Washington has added new Venezuela-linked sanctions and separately hit Iran’s shadow-fleet network, expanding the pool of already-sanctioned vessels that could be swept into real-world stop-and-search enforcement if they touch Venezuela’s trade.

Updated Dec 20, 2025

Secretary of the Treasury - Driving an expanded Iran sanctions enforcement campaign under NSPM-2

Treasury just hit Iran’s oil-smuggling “shadow fleet” where it actually hurts: the ships. On December 18, 2025, OFAC blocked 29 vessels and a web of managers and front-company operators that keep Iranian oil moving when the paperwork is fake and the GPS goes dark.

Updated Dec 18, 2025

US Secretary of the Treasury - Leads implementation of sanctions and waivers governing Lukoil’s asset sales

First the US froze Lukoil’s assets. Now it’s effectively forcing Russia’s biggest private oil company to auction off its global business. A fresh Treasury waiver gives buyers until January 17, 2026 to lock in deals for oilfields, refineries and thousands of gas stations worth about $22 billion.

Updated Dec 11, 2025

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury - Key player in tariff strategy and financing of farm aid; recently divested a large soybean farm

Since 2018, U.S. farmers have been repeatedly caught in the crossfire of Trump-era tariff battles, first in the original U.S.–China trade war and now again under a renewed wave of tariffs on China, Canada, Mexico and others. To blunt the damage from lost export markets and depressed crop prices, successive Trump administrations have turned to large, executive‑driven farm aid programs funded through the Agriculture Department’s Commodity Credit Corporation, starting with a 12 billion dollar package in 2018 and a 16 billion dollar package in 2019.

Updated Dec 11, 2025

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury - Under sustained ethics scrutiny; has now divested North Dakota farmland but faces questions about earlier decisions

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent entered office in January 2025 with an ethics agreement committing him to sell extensive personal holdings, including up to $25 million in North Dakota soybean and corn farmland that earned as much as $1 million a year in rent. After months of delays and an August 2025 warning from the Office of Government Ethics that he had failed to timely comply, Bessent announced on December 7, 2025, that he had finally divested the soybean farm "this week," completing the most glaring conflict-of-interest obligation.

Updated Dec 11, 2025

U.S. Treasury Secretary; Chair, Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) - Advocating a deregulatory shift and a reevaluation of FSOC’s post-crisis approach as leveraged-lending guardrails are rolled back

In March 2013, U.S. bank regulators issued joint supervisory guidance on leveraged lending to prevent a return of pre-2008-style underwriting excesses, with examiners informally anchoring scrutiny around a roughly six-times-EBITDA leverage benchmark. Over the next decade, banks’ pullback helped shift riskier deal finance toward private-credit funds, CLOs, and other nonbanks—expanding an opaque “shadow banking” ecosystem even as regulators maintained the guidance was supervisory, not a binding rule.

Updated Dec 11, 2025