Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday that relief is finally on the way for American families. Speaking to “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker, he said prices on everyday products should begin falling within weeks — not years. The Trump administration, he explained, is tackling costs from multiple angles instead of lecturing Americans about “Bidenomics.”
Bessent pointed to the White House’s Nov. 14 move suspending tariffs on certain imported grocery items. President Donald Trump announced the change after progress in trade negotiations, arguing that suspending tariffs would help consumers and strengthen the U.S. in ongoing talks. Bessent said it’s part of a coordinated effort to break inflation and restore affordability.
“In March of 2024 I wrote a piece, and I talked about the three I’s that were killing Americans: immigration, interest rates, and inflation,” Bessent said. “President [Trump]’s closed the border and the mass immigration is gone, and that was putting a lot of the immigration was putting upward pressure on housing, downward pressure on wages.”
He added that interest rates are returning to normal and Americans are already seeing better conditions in the housing market. “Interest rates are down and now we are starting to see the affordability. The prices get better. We had a very big October for home sales,” Bessent continued. “Energy prices: gasoline is down. We saw— we believe health care is gonna come down: we will see an announcement this coming week on that.”
Bessent didn’t stop there. He pointed directly to everyday costs families recognize. “Across the board, prices are starting to come down. We’re having Thanksgiving week. This will be the lowest cost for a Thanksgiving dinner in four years. Turkey prices are down 16%.”
Welker tried to challenge him by suggesting Trump’s tariffs may have contributed to price increases. But Bessent shut that down immediately. “Inflation hasn’t gone up and, Kristen, the one thing that we’re not going to do is do what the Biden administration did and tell the American people they don’t know how they feel,” he said. “They are traumatized and over the Biden inflation. We have slowed inflation and we are working very hard to bring it down.”
The NBC host then pressed him on the administration’s tariff rollback. Welker asked why tariffs were being eased if they “help consumers.” Bessent responded, “Well, first of all, Kristen, if you look at the data — the imported goods — the inflation has actually been flat. Inflation is up because of the service economy and services, so that has nothing to do with tariffs … the [U.S. Trade Representative] has been working very hard on trade deals.”
Welker pointed to specific items like bananas and coffee. That’s when Bessent hit her with one of the most memorable lines of the interview. “Kristen, how much does your arm weigh?” he asked. She laughed and admitted she didn’t know. “Exactly, but you know how much you weigh; you get on the scale every morning. Inflation is a composite number and we look at everything,” Bessent said.
Bessent said the administration is focused on bigger levers — not cherry-picked stats. “We try to push down the things we can control,” he said. “Energy prices are down and everything flows from that, and I think we’re going to see these other prices come down.”
When Welker asked how soon Americans would see the changes, he gave a straight answer. “Some are gonna come down in weeks, some are gonna come down in months,” Bessent said.