Trump Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplays market plunge as he doubles down on tariffs: ‘Going to hold the course’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent downplayed growing fears of a recession and the market plunge from President Trump’s tariffs as he vowed Sunday that “we’re going to hold the course.”

“There doesn’t have to be a recession. Who knows how the market is going to react in a day, in a week. We’re building the long term,” Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, told NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
Bessent was coy about Trump’s exact game plan with the tariffs, but said that the president “has created maximum leverage for himself.”

Last week, as part of so-called “Liberation Day” Trump unveiled steep tariff increases on virtually every country, including a 10% baseline rate that went into effect Saturday and customized rates for countries that are slated to take effect Wednesday.

Markets have been roiled by the tariffs, wiping more than $6 trillion off stock valuations. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has lost 3,000 points over the past five days, the S&P 500 has shed 454 points during that time frame and the Nasdaq lost nearly 1,500 points.