Scott Bessent Defends Trump's Economic Agenda As 'Engine Designed To Drive Economic Growth,' Despite GDP Contraction And Falling Approval

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended President Donald Trump‘s economic agenda on Sunday in an op-ed, arguing that the administration’s approach will benefit Main Street while maintaining Wall Street’s strength.

What Happened: “President Trump intends to usher in the most prosperous decade in American history?but not at the cost of the spiritual degradation of the working class,” Bessent wrote in an opinion piece published with the Wall Street Journal, outlining a three-step strategy to rebalance the economy.

The plan centers on renegotiating global trade through tariffs, making the 2017 tax cuts permanent while eliminating taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security, and aggressive deregulation to accelerate domestic manufacturing.

Bessent argued these policies work together as “interlocking parts of an engine designed to drive economic growth and domestic manufacturing,” not as isolated measures as critics suggest.

The Treasury Secretary’s defense comes amid mixed economic signals. While April’s jobs report beat expectations with 177,000 new positions and inflation has cooled with the first decline in consumer prices since COVID, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025?the first contraction in three years.

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Why It Matters: Trump has distanced himself from recent market volatility, calling it “Biden’s stock market” with an “overhang” from the previous administration that “has nothing to do with tariffs.”

A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Trump’s economic approval rating has dropped to 37%, down from 42% following his January inauguration, with 75% of respondents fearing a recession.

Despite broader market concerns, Fundstrat's Tom Lee backed Bessent's outlook on market resilience, describing the recent equity rebound as a "White House put."

Since bottoming at 4,928 on April 9, the S&P 500?as tracked by the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) ?has climbed 15.38% to 5,686, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100, as tracked by Invesco QQQ Trust surged 17.62%, rising from 17,090 to 20,102 during the same period.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.