Americans have good reason to be skeptical when Washington announces another round of sanctions.
For years, politicians of both parties have reached for sanctions to be seen as doing something — anything — about the long list of threats facing U.S. national security. Unfortunately, calls for more sanctions aren’t always matched by a coherent strategy.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s “Operation Economic Outcast” against Iran could be different.
When Mr. Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0613">promised</a> an “economic D-Day” on August 24, the initial rollout looked more like another warning shot. Treasury sanctioned nearly 60 individuals, companies, and vessels and broadened the scope of targets that could be sanctioned for operating in various parts of the Iranian economy. Missing, however, was any action against a financial institution enabling Iran.
Four days later, that changed. Treasury <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0617/">began</a> a process that, if implemented following an initial 30-day public comment period, could soon cut off the United Arab Emirates branches of Egypt’s state-owned Banque Misr from the U.S. financial system. According to Treasury data, the branches <a href="https://www.fincen.gov/system/files/2026-08/Banque-Misr-UAE-NPRM.pdf">processed</a> about $1.8 billion for 103 suspected Iranian shadow banking fronts since 2024, including companies tied to Iran’s Defense Ministry and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
This is exactly the type of action Washington needs more of.
Iran has spent years building <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0477">networks</a> of foreign-registered companies, exchange houses, shipping firms, and financial intermediaries designed to disguise sanctioned oil and petrochemical sales and move the proceeds back to the regime. Sanction one shell company and another can replace it. Make the bank processing those transactions fear losing access to the American financial system, and it faces an obvious commercial choice that Washington has rarely forced.
To be sure, the U.S. has threatened foreign banks for dealing with Iran before. More than a decade ago, the objective was to persuade governments to wean themselves off Iranian oil by putting their banks’ access to the U.S. financial system at risk.
The challenge today is different.
Rather than merely pressuring countries to buy less Iranian oil, the administration now appears to be targeting the financial institutions that have enabled Iran to keep selling sanctioned oil, laundering the proceeds, and accessing the U.S. financial system despite years of sanctions.
If sustained, that would put real teeth behind sanctions enforcement. And its importance would extend far beyond Iran.
The same permissive financial hubs, opaque corporate structures, and weak due diligence practices that facilitate Iranian sanctions evasion also serve Russian sanctions evaders, North Korean procurement networks, cartels, and other transnational criminal organizations. Financial institutions willing to ignore obvious warning signs rarely do so for only one malign actor.
Still, Iran adds a uniquely urgent national security dimension to the problem. Its illicit financial networks generate resources for the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, a regime that has repeatedly approached the nuclear threshold. Disrupting those networks is critical to preventing Tehran from reconstituting the capabilities that have repeatedly brought the Middle East to the brink.
That is why critics shouldn’t dismiss Operation Economic Outcast before seeing whether Treasury follows through. Nor should supporters declare victory because of one action against one bank’s branches in the UAE.
The right measure of success is whether foreign banks stop processing Iranian business, whether jurisdictions harboring Iran’s shadow banking networks tighten oversight, and whether Tehran finds it harder to profit from its illicit sanctions evasion networks.
Beginning with action against a bank’s branches in the UAE is smart. The UAE is a partner, but it also faces significant money laundering and terror financing risks that will be difficult to reform quickly. Treasury shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that, beyond the UAE, no jurisdiction is more important to Iranian sanctions evasion than China. Beijing <a href="https://www.uscc.gov/research/china-iran-fact-sheet-short-primer-relationship">purchases</a> roughly 90% of Iran’s exported oil, and the commercial and financial infrastructure surrounding that trade remains indispensable to Tehran.
Treasury has a wide escalation ladder available, but it cannot succeed without taking aim at these institutions. The Chinese will protest, but they too should face the commercial choice the U.S. presented to Banque Misr UAE: access to the U.S. financial system or continued dealings with Iran. China’s export-dependent economy still relies heavily on dollars, and its ability to import more energy than any other country still depends heavily on the U.S. financial system. The choice should be obvious.
Sanctions aren’t inherently effective or ineffective. They are tools, and their value depends on what Washington targets, how aggressively it enforces them, and whether it is prepared to keep applying pressure when targets adapt.
For too long, sanctions have often substituted for strategy. Operation Economic Outcast could change that. Americans should give the campaign a chance to succeed. And they should call out the administration’s half-measures if it doesn’t.
***
Max Meizlish is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He has worked in the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Follow Max on X <a href="https://x.com/maxmeizlish/status/2074658279809323226">@maxmeizlish</a>.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Holds A Press Conference

Inside Economic Warfare And The Fight To Dismantle Iran’s Financial Lifelines

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This piece is part of MI x DW, a collaboration that brings Daily Wire readers exclusive commentary and research from the Manhattan Institute’s world-class team of scholars.
***
The U.S. Department of the Treasury followed in the United Kingdom’s footsteps on Wednesday, <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0616/">designating</a> Palestine Action as a terrorist front. Acting under the authority of Executive Order 13224, Treasury has confirmed what analysts have documented for years: that a transatlantic network of cells, funders, and ostensible grassroots organizations has been waging coordinated violence against defense infrastructure, intimidating Americans through civil terrorism, and providing material and ideological support to designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO).
The Palestine Action designation is also the latest in a systematic effort to chip away at transnational organizations aiming to subvert American interests through crime and intimidation. Treasury sanctioned the sham nonprofit Samidoun, which had been raising funds for the Marxist FTO Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in October 2024. It has now identified Palestine Action and Masar Badil (another Samidoun front) as extensions of the same enterprise. Next, we must recognize that these groups serve as hubs connected to dozens of spokes — funders, partners, and footsoldiers — each of which poses a danger to our national security and the integrity of our republican system of government.
A few actions would keep Treasury’s momentum going.
First, Treasury and the State Department should designate Unity of Fields as an alias of Palestine Action UK. Unity of Fields was once known as Palestine Action US, and has been a force of destruction stateside — attacking banks and other businesses in acts of violent intimidation. Founded by the same network, funded by the same sources, and acting for the same cause, Unity of Fields has left little doubt that it, too, materially and ideologically supports terrorism.
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Treasury should move quickly to designate Unity of Fields as an alias or successor of Palestine Action, ensuring that it is considered toxic under American law. Its funds should be frozen, and its leadership should be investigated promptly. (Then-Senator Marco Rubio already <a href="https://x.com/SenMarcoRubio/status/1846946478171828455?s=20">recommended</a> that the Department of Justice investigate Unity of Fields for domestic terrorism.)
Which brings us to action item number two: Individually designate Calla Walsh. Walsh co-founded Palestine Action U.S. alongside centimillionaire failson James “Fergie” Chambers, faced criminal charges for engaging in civil terrorism, and remains a key figure in the organization’s operational apparatus. She is a founding member of the Babochki Collective, which controls Chambers’s grant-making, alongside multiple members of the Democratic Socialists of America’s International Committee.
Walsh is an obvious terror mouthpiece. She has praised the October 7 Hamas attacks as “the glorious Al-Aqsa flood,” publicly called on activists to “build our own people’s war,” expressed support for Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah, and questioned why there were not “100 more” attacks on Israeli diplomats. In July 2025, she traveled to Iran and delivered a speech chanting “Death to America! Death to Israel!” She has since relocated to Beirut, where she contributes to Iranian state media. She has been arrested twice and served 60 days in jail for vandalism and criminal trespassing connected to her activism. An individual Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designation under E.O. 13224 is overdue and could help pry open even larger networks of bad actors connected to Walsh.
Third, press the Chambers prosecution and open investigations into his network. Chambers faces a federal indictment alleging he transferred approximately $7.5 million out of the United States in material support of Hamas. His extradition from Spain should be pursued vigorously. But Chambers did not operate alone. The Babochki Collective funneled donations far and wide within the permanent protest ecosystem. Among many other suspicious items, Chambers’s grantmaking funded legal defenses for activists arrested during A15 Action’s April 2024 civil terrorism campaign, which shut down the Golden Gate Bridge, O’Hare International Airport, and Tesla’s Fremont manufacturing facility, among others.
Digging into the astroturfed demonstrations backed by Chambers reveals a constellation of actors who tend to show up, or lurk behind the scenes, whenever far-left demonstrations turn criminal. A15 Action directed its bail fund through Community Justice Exchange, fiscally sponsored by the Tides Center, and coordinated legal support through the National Lawyers Guild. Federal investigators should map every organization that received Chambers-linked funds and assess whether they maintain links with a now-designated terrorist organization.
Fourth, Congress should show that this is a priority. A bipartisan letter from the relevant Senate and House judiciary and intelligence committees — endorsing Treasury’s designation, calling for the Unity of Fields alias action, and requesting a full accounting of the network’s domestic financial infrastructure — would send the important signal that lawmakers across parties recognize these criminal enterprises for what they are. These are not dissenters or even partisans, but participants in a terrorist enterprise that has coordinated with Iran and explicitly called for violence against American institutions. Neither party should have any interest in doing PR for these groups by calling them by the common euphemism of “protest.” Palestine Action doesn’t think it is a protest movement, and neither should we.
Treasury is leading the way, using the powerful tools at its disposal to neutralize what it rightly perceives as a serious threat. The question is whether the full weight of the American enforcement apparatus — investigators, prosecutors, and policymakers alike — will act before these subversion networks can take any more steps forward.
***
Tal Fortgang is a legal policy fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

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Inside The Federal Crackdown On Palestinian Terror Networks Threatening America

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent&#8217;s plan to expand the government&#8217;s purchases of long-term debt is drawing fire from some of Wall Street&#8217;s biggest names, including his former boss and mentor, Stanley Druckenmiller. 
“The long-term Treasury yield is the most important price in the world. It is also the only fiscal disciplinarian the U.S. has left,” Druckenmiller <a href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/let-the-bond-market-speak-81529d74">wrote</a>, arguing that Washington is attempting to artificially lower the long-term yield instead of fixing the market fundamentals that led to its rise in the first place. 
“Every basis point of artificial yield suppression is a subsidy to procrastination,” he added. 
The Treasury Department announced last week that it would at least double the size of its liquidity-support buybacks for long-dated securities, increasing the amount from a maximum of $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. 
“The U.S. Department of the Treasury is increasing, by at least double, the size of liquidity support buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities,&#8221; the department said. The expanded operations will cover securities in the 10-to-20-year and 20-to-30-year sectors.
The change will take effect September 9 and remain in place until November 4, when Treasury is scheduled to provide additional guidance.
Druckenmiller was not the only Wall Street figure to criticize the move. Nohshad Shah, head of fixed-income sales at Citadel Securities,  <a href="https://www.citadelsecurities.com/news-and-insights/macro-thoughts/hard-choices/?series=macro-thoughts">argued</a> that intervention would not provide a durable solution.
“The durable solution is not repeated intervention, but harder choices on fiscal policy and central banks willing to get ahead of inflation…including, if necessary, by hiking rates,” he said. 
Shah argued that the high yield is that fiscal and monetary policy should be tighter. 
“The bond market’s message is straightforward: fiscal or monetary policy should be tighter,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Preventing Treasuries from clearing at lower prices does not eliminate that pressure…it merely shifts it elsewhere.” 
Lisa Shalett, chief investment officer at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, called the move a short-term gimmick. In a client note, she said Morgan Stanley views &#8220;non-crisis market intervention and financial engineering attempts as short-lived gimmicks.” 
LPL Financial&#8217;s chief fixed income strategist <a href="https://www.wsj.com/finance/stocks/u-s-stocks-and-bonds-slide-brushing-off-treasurys-buyback-plans-57ced23b">called</a> Treasury’s move a temporary fix. 
“This is a Band-Aid,&#8221; the strategist said. &#8220;This doesn’t really fix the problem.” 
Mike Sanders, head of fixed income at Madison Investments, said he was worried the market would respond. 
“My fear is that the market is going to try to fight them on it at a certain point,” Sanders said.
Not all of Wall Street pushed back on the endeavor. Portfolio manager Vincent Ahn <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/pressure-on-bonds-abates-as-treasury-announces-buybacks-what-may-come-next-af7d7c76?utm_source=chatgpt.com">said</a> that “Bessent seems willing to use balance-sheet tools more aggressively when the ultralong end starts deteriorating.”
Investors initially reacted positively to the announcement, with both the S&amp;P 500 and Nasdaq trading higher following the news. 
The Treasury Department said the move reflects its desire “to provide greater support in longer-dated nominal sectors where there is consistent strong sponsorship from market participants, as evidenced by the significant volume of  high-quality offers Treasury routinely receives in longer-dated buyback operations.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

Scott Bessent’s Latest Big Plan Has Wall Street In A Blender

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday launched “Operation Economic Outcast,” a campaign to cut Iran off from the global economy and punish governments, banks, and companies that continue doing business with Tehran.
The announcement comes roughly six months after President Donald Trump launched his military campaign against Iran, with Bessent saying the new economic offensive will target the financial networks and revenue streams that sustain the Iranian government, military, and security apparatus.
Bessent described the campaign as an “economic D-Day,” comparing it to the Allied invasion of Normandy during World War II, and warned that countries enabling Iran’s trade and financial activity will face U.S. sanctions.
“Our objective is to sever every economic lifeline that sustains this tyrannical regime until Tehran stands alone,” Bessent said. “President Trump has taken action that his predecessors have long deferred, and under his leadership, America is no longer managing the Iranian threat; we are ending it.”
The campaign marks a significant escalation in Washington’s pressure on Tehran. Rather than focusing solely on Iranian entities, the administration is threatening the international banks, companies, and governments that help keep Iran connected to the global financial system.
Bessent said the Treasury has mapped the networks Iran uses to smuggle oil and evade sanctions and will pursue a “zero-leakage approach” to cutting off those channels. The administration is giving countries and entities a chance to shut down activities identified by Washington, but Bessent warned that the window will be short.
“No one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions,” Bessent said when asked whether Chinese banks could eventually be targeted. 
He declined to name specific institutions but said any bank or entity that facilitates transactions that turn Iranian oil into revenue for the regime could face sanctions.
The first round of measures targets five sectors Bessent called vital Iranian lifelines: digital assets, technology, gold, aviation, and shipping. 
Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is also sanctioning more than 60 entities, individuals, and vessels accused of helping Iran procure nuclear and missile technology, conduct cyber operations, and generate oil revenue.
Bessent said every branch of Bank Melli, Iran’s largest commercial bank, should be “shuttered and dark” and warned that entities facilitating money laundering for Iran would be cut off from the U.S. dollar system.
Trump has been calling world leaders with specific requests to end their interactions with Tehran, Bessent said, while State Department and Treasury officials are following up with governments and entities to outline Washington’s expectations. He declined to identify the countries involved or give a specific deadline, saying the United States does not have “infinite patience.”
Bessent said a “wave of sanctions” would begin immediately and predicted a major announcement involving a financial institution by the end of the week.
He pointed to the United Arab Emirates as an early example of a country responding to the pressure. The UAE suspended all trade with Iran last week following new Iranian attacks on the Gulf country, which has faced hundreds of attacks since the war began.
Asked why the United States was not simply imposing the sanctions immediately, given his comparison to D-Day, Bessent said Washington did not want to “blow up the global financial system” and instead is giving countries and institutions a chance to remedy what the administration considers bad behavior before imposing secondary sanctions.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei warned Monday that Tehran will retaliate against President Trump&#8217;s “Economic D-Day” sanctions campaign, including potentially targeting countries that cooperate with Washington.
“Any escalation of this situation will undoubtedly bring about consequences,” Baghaei said. “Our hands are not tied.”

Mojtaba

‘Operation Economic Outcast’: Trump Admin Launches Economic D-Day Against Iran

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent fired a blistering shot across Iran’s bow, declaring that President Donald Trump is bringing the hammer down on the Islamic Republic once and for all.
Writing in the <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/cb865200-1a06-40be-86a3-10ee2bb05804">Financial Times</a> on Sunday, Bessent wrote, “We are entering the endgame. At dawn begins an economic D-Day — the single greatest financial offensive ever marshalled against an adversary. “
Bessent, channeling WWII, compared the Trump administration’s economic strategy to the 1943 Tehran Conference where Allied leaders plotted the downfall of Nazi tyranny. But this time around, the target is Tehran.
“For 47 years, the Islamic republic of Iran has been a malignant force in the world,” Bessent declared. “Within Iran, a corrupt regime has consigned what would be one of the world’s strongest economies to ruin and its enterprising people to repression. Beyond its borders, the Iranian regime maintains a network of proxies that perpetuate its terror.”
Bessent then turned to the nations that have covertly or overtly supported the despotic Iranian regime.
&#8220;The regime’s final refuge now lies in the self-deception of fearful nations that still believe accommodating aggression can secure a durable peace,&#8221; he wrote. &#8220;Iran’s enablers purchase and transport its petroleum. They facilitate the flow of its finances through exchange houses and free trade zones. They welcome Iran’s flights and maintain registries on its behalf. They turn a blind eye to seaborne fuel transfers and the illicit use of their banks, all while concealing the extent of their complicity.. In short, these countries calculate appeasement of the regime to be the safer course. But they would do well to consider the consequences of sustaining it.&#8221;
Bessent invoked the 17th-century philosopher Blaise Pascal, whose famous wager stated that human reason cannot definitively settle the question of whether God exists. Pascal argued that humans should think like gamblers, weighing the relative costs and payoffs of believing versus not believing. He contended that if you bet on God and are right, you gain everything (infinity); if you bet on God and are wrong, you lose very little (a few finite pleasures or the time spent in worship); but if you bet against God and are wrong, you lose everything (infinite pain/loss), thus any rational person should choose to believe in God, because risking an infinite loss for a temporary, finite gain is a terrible bet.
Bessent said of Pascal, “He understood that uncertainty does not absolve men or nations of divine judgment. In fact, it demands a more exacting appraisal of risk and imposes a higher price for error. Pascal’s eponymous wager now applies to Iran’s lifelines. Nations that, in courting reprieve from Tehran, continue to replenish the very regime from which they seek protection — and now exceed the limits of America’s tolerance.”
Bessent shredded decades of weak-kneed Washington politicians, writing, “For decades, the political class accepted an endless cycle of provocation instead of advancing American interests. Not another generation should be condemned to the menace of fanatics who devote themselves to ‘death to America’ and fulfilling the regime’s nuclear ambitions.”
“Those who sever Iran’s remaining financial and commercial connectivity will reinvigorate their own,” he urged. “They will deepen their access to global capital, reinforce confidence in their markets and attain the standing they seek in the world economy.”
“The Islamic republic has subsisted by dressing extortion as security guarantees,” he continued. “ It has drawn strength from a calculus that regards Iranian retaliation as certain and American enforcement as negotiable. Under President Trump, that era is over. And those who fear the danger of defying Tehran ought not to discount the cost of testing Washington.”
He concluded, “Pascal considered salvation to be a choice. As a great wave of American resolve comes ashore, are Iran’s enablers willing to wager their future against it?”
Bessent’s warning is clear: the Trump administration is bringing the ultimate financial reckoning.

President Trump Meets With Lebanese President Joseph Aoun

‘We Are Entering The Endgame’: Trump Admin Sends Major Warning As ‘Economic D-Day’ Begins

The Trump administration reported the single largest month for arrests by ICE in July, but now, its efforts are moving beyond the border and into community banks. 
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to Arizona on Thursday to tell lenders to view credit applications under an increasingly scrutinized lens. 
&#8220;This administration will not tolerate blatant abuse of our financial system, nor will it permit risks posed by the extension of financial services to illegal aliens,&#8221; Bessent <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0595">told</a> the bankers. 
He was careful to frame the ask as part of the bankers’ ordinary duties rather than an expansion into border enforcement. 
&#8220;We do not ask bankers to assume the burdens of border enforcement,&#8221; Bessent said. &#8220;But we depend on banks to do what you do best: know your customers, identify risks as they arise, and report suspicious patterns before they metastasize into criminal schemes.&#8221;
The administration is pushing the banks to view lending money to undocumented immigrants as an added risk. The administration outlined concerns, such as the possibility of deportation and termination after an employer discovers the employee doesn&#8217;t have a valid work authorization. The guidance does not carry the force of law, however, as banks are not prohibited from offering accounts or loans to illegal immigrants.
Bessent argued that Arizona carries particular weight in the effort, telling the bankers the state &#8220;remains uniquely exposed to the aftershocks of Biden&#8217;s border crisis, including cartels and criminal organizations that seek to conceal illicit proceeds within legitimate channels.&#8221; He made similar remarks in Texas, given its proximity to the southern border. 
Critics of the Trump administration&#8217;s new guidance argue that community banks will suffer if they have to bear the burden of increased compliance as they face pressure to more closely scrutinize their customers. 
The National Association of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals <a href="https://inclusiv.org/news/inclusiv-nlcup-joint-statement-executive-order-restoring-integrity-americas-financial-system">said</a> the guidance will create a “nearly insurmountable operations and compliance burden for financial institutions in tracking the immigration and work authorization status of their members. This burden will be felt most acutely by small credit unions and will likely lead to closures and fewer affordable financial services in the communities that need credit unions the most.”
Bessent responded to that criticism by framing the federal government&#8217;s relationship with community banks as a two-way street. The secretary told the audience that even as Washington leans on community banks for vigilance, Treasury owes them relief from what he called years of &#8220;overregulation&#8221; that has cut the number of community and small banks in half since the 2008 financial crisis. 
&#8220;Dodd-Frank was supposed to end &#8216;too big to fail,'&#8221; Bessent said. &#8220;Instead, it created &#8216;too small to succeed.&#8217;” 
He reminded the banks of the administration’s commitment to reducing regulation and reminded them that increased regulation did not stop three bank failures in 2023.

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Treasury Secretary Bessent testifies before a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on Capitol Hill

Trump Admin Taps Surprising New Partner To Combat Illegal Immigration

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First lady Melania Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced Thursday that children in foster care will be eligible for Trump Accounts, ensuring they can participate in the investment program even when no parent or guardian is available to open an account for them.
Trump Accounts are designed to help children build wealth over time through tax-advantaged investment accounts seeded with an initial government contribution. Until now, participation generally required a parent or legal guardian to open an account on a child&#8217;s behalf.
The new initiative, called Fostering the Future Accounts, allows states and tribal governments serving as legal guardians to open Trump Accounts for eligible children in foster care.
“For the first time, children in foster care will have access to a dedicated investment and savings vehicle,” Melania Trump said during Thursday&#8217;s announcement. 
&nbsp;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
NOW: <a href="https://x.com/FLOTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FLOTUS</a> and <a href="https://x.com/SecScottBessent?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SecScottBessent</a> announce Trump Accounts for children in foster care.
This expands access for children for whom the state acts as their legal guardian. <a href="https://x.com/FLOTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FLOTUS</a> says 23 governors have already agreed to set up the accounts in their states and urges all 50… <a href="https://t.co/gvqeHK6Pto">pic.twitter.com/gvqeHK6Pto</a>
— Brecca Stoll (@breccastoll) <a href="https://x.com/breccastoll/status/2065096414502306091?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2026</a></blockquote>
&nbsp;
The program could make roughly 400,000 foster children eligible to participate, based on federal estimates of the number of children currently in foster care nationwide.
Bessent said the change ensures children will receive the same $1,000 Treasury-funded contribution available through standard Trump Accounts for children born between January 1, 2025, and December 31, 2028.
States will also be permitted to deposit a child&#8217;s Social Security survivor benefits into the account.
Like other Trump Accounts, the funds will be professionally managed and invested in diversified index funds. When participants reach adulthood, they may use the money for approved expenses, including college tuition, purchasing a home, or starting a business.
Mrs. Trump said 23 governors have already agreed to implement the program and urged the remaining states to participate.
“Let’s put America’s children before politics,” she said.

US-POLITICS-ECONOMY

Melania Solves Problem Most Americans Never Think About

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Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA) <a href="http://pic.twitter.com/vCUNZadS5y">accused</a> Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent&#8217;s department of being “the most corrupt in American history” during a heated congressional hearing on Wednesday, then rattled off complaints outside the Treasury’s jurisdiction.
“Inflation is now rising faster than hourly wages, gas prices are at an all-time high with the war in Iran, the cost of groceries has risen 3.2% over the past two years, and prices on most goods have gone up because of Trump’s tariffs,&#8221; Sánchez said. &#8220;So I don’t see how you can call that anything other than a failure of the most corrupt Treasury Department in history.” 
Bessent rejected the characterization, saying she was “short on facts and long on hot air.” 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
California Representative <a href="https://x.com/LindaTSanchez?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LindaTSanchez</a> tells Secretary Scott Bessent his Treasury Department is “the most corrupt in American history.”
She provides tariffs, war with Iran and a DOJ settlement as her evidence.
Tariff policy is led by the White House and aided by Section 232… <a href="https://t.co/vCUNZadS5y">pic.twitter.com/vCUNZadS5y</a>
— Brecca Stoll (@breccastoll) <a href="https://x.com/breccastoll/status/2062578590492045512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 4, 2026</a></blockquote>
Sánchez&#8217;s criticism focused on several issues that are either directed by the White House or involve agencies beyond the Treasury&#8217;s direct policymaking authority.
Sánchez first targeted inflation, which she blamed on Trump’s tariffs and the conflict with Iran. Energy prices have increased since the military operations against Iran began, contributing to broader inflationary pressures. 
Bessent responded sharply: “On inflation, I will not take firefighting advice from an arsonist,” a reference to the inflation surge during the Biden administration.
Sánchez also criticized Trump’s tariff policies, arguing they have increased costs for American consumers. The Trump administration has defended the tariffs as necessary to reset foreign trade relationships and secure industries deemed critical to national security, including pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, steel, and critical minerals. The average household is likely to pay an extra <a href="https://budgetlab.yale.edu/research/state-us-tariffs-march-9-2026">$570</a> due to tariffs in 2026. 
While the Treasury ultimately receives tariff revenue after collection, trade policy is largely driven by the White House, the Commerce Department, and the Office of the United States Trade Representative. 
Finally, Sánchez targeted the IRS, which is part of the Treasury, for failing to audit Trump&#8217;s tax returns. Bessent responded that the Treasury follows existing legal guidance and suggested that disagreements over the matter should be directed to the Department of Justice. The Treasury Department is unable to audit Trump’s tax returns as the DOJ <a href="https://tax.thomsonreuters.com/news/doj-settlement-forever-bars-irs-trump-audits-sparks-backlash/">issued</a> an order that permanently barred the IRS from auditing past tax returns of not only President Donald Trump, but also his family, and related companies.
&#8220;At Treasury, we follow the rule of law,&#8221; Bessent said.

Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent

Democrat Tries To Own Scott Bessent But Doesn’t Understand How Government Works

The U.S. military is taking its blockade of Iran global, targeting Tehran’s shadowy “dark fleet” in a move aimed at choking off the regime’s illicit oil lifeline.
General Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned that the U.S. Navy will &#8220;actively pursue” Iranian-linked ships not just in the Middle East, but in other theaters as well.
“The joint force through operations and activities in other areas of responsibility like the Pacific … will actively pursue any Iranian-flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran,” he said. “This includes dark fleet vessels carrying Iranian oil.”
Caine described the “dark fleet” as illicit or illegal ships “evading international regulations, sanctions or insurance requirements.”
The announcement marks a significant expansion of the U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports and coastline into a worldwide enforcement effort. United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) has identified more than 570 vessels as part of Tehran’s so-called “dark fleet,” many of which are already under U.S. sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
One such sanctioned vessel, the Rich Starry, drew international attention this week after appearing to successfully transit the Strait of Hormuz before turning back toward Iranian waters after reportedly facing the blockade. The Chinese-owned tanker bound for China, <a href="https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/security/sanctioned-tanker-pulls-strait-of-hormuz-u-turn">carrying</a> roughly 250,000 barrels of methanol loaded from the United Arab Emirates, is flagged to the landlocked country of Malawi — an indicator it is likely part of Iran’s “dark fleet” using false registration to evade sanctions. The vessel previously sailed under the name Full Star when it <a href="https://ofac.treasury.gov/recent-actions/20230302">was added</a> to the Treasury Department’s sanctions list in early 2023.
United States Naval Forces Central Command (USNAVCENT) issued an update about the blockade expansion, announcing that “all Iranian vessels with OFAC sanctions, and vessels suspected of carrying contraband, are subject to belligerent right to visit and search” regardless of location, according to <a href="https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/security/us-targets-dark-fleet-contraband-cargoes-with-blockade-extension">Seatrade Maritime News</a>.
Caine said that the blockade will apply to all ships, regardless of nationality, and that U.S. forces will enforce it both in international waters and “inside Iran’s territorial seas.”
He added that U.S. forces have yet to board any targeted vessels, but that 13 have turned around rather than attempt to break the blockade.
<a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0405#:~:text=This%20action%20is%20in%20furtherance,have%20repeatedly%20and%20courageously%20demanded.">According to OFAC</a>, Iran’s illicit fleet serves as the “regime’s primary source of revenue for financing domestic repression, terrorist proxies, and weapons programs.”
The Treasury Department has also ramped up pressure through what it calls “Operation Economic Fury,” warning that financial institutions worldwide face consequences for facilitating Iran’s oil trade. The move also included new sanctions on more than two dozen individuals, companies, and vessels on Wednesday.
“Treasury is moving aggressively with Economic Fury, maintaining maximum pressure on Iran,” the department said, adding that it is prepared to use the full range of authorities — including secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that continue to support Tehran.
The department <a href="https://x.com/USTreasury/status/2044122873036673130">also said</a> a short-term authorization allowing the sale of Iranian oil stranded at sea will expire within days and will not be renewed. The waiver, <a href="https://gcaptain.com/maximum-pressure-returns-u-s-targets-shadow-fleet-tankers-as-iran-oil-waiver-expires/">issued</a> on March 20, permitted the sale of roughly 140 million barrels of oil already loaded onto vessels.
Under OFAC rules, sanctioned individuals and companies have any assets in the United States frozen, and businesses they own are also restricted. U.S. citizens and residents generally cannot do business with them, and foreign companies that help them can face secondary sanctions. Some violations can lead to civil or criminal penalties.

Venezuela Oil Tanker

New U.S. Target? Iran’s ‘Dark Fleet’ Long Accused Of Skirting The Rules.

Operation Epic Fury

U.S. Navy

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent delivered a scathing response to The Financial Times after the outlet published a story — which he labeled &#8220;explicitly false&#8221; — about his plans for the future of the Federal Reserve.
The <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/9d1859f0-2f93-4ff1-8cfb-8046342bf9f7?syn-25a6b1a6=1">Financial Times</a> headline read, &#8220;Scott Bessent praised Bank of England as model for tighter oversight of Federal Reserve.&#8221; An X post promoting the piece followed the same general theme: &#8220;U.S. treasury secretary Scott Bessent discussed tightening the US Treasury’s oversight of the Federal Reserve by adopting elements of the Bank of England’s model.&#8221;
Bessent objected in a lengthy <a href="https://x.com/SecScottBessent/status/2037337495575134643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2037337495575134643%7Ctwgr%5E267dcd7cc78786bcb565c54c2e581946497d7248%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitchy.com%2Fsamj%2F2026%2F03%2F27%2Fscott-bissent-financial-times-n2426503">X post</a> of his own, explaining that as recently as 2025, he had written a comprehensive (<a href="https://www.international-economy.com/TIE_Sp25_Bessent.pdf">6,000+ words</a>) analysis of potential reforms for the Federal Reserve, and that he had never adopted a stance supporting a move toward the Chancellor-Bank of England statute for the relationship between the Treasury and the Federal Reserve.
&#8220;By publishing this explicitly false story, the @FT has officially become tabloid trash for market participants,&#8221; Bessent began, noting that he had gone on the record denying the premise of the story. &#8220;Despite my direct, on-the-record denial of ever having advocated, explored, or espoused the idea that Chancellor-Bank of England statute serving as a prototype for a Treasury-Federal Reserve relationship, FT journalists manufactured a story with the headline, &#8216;Scott Bessent praised Bank of England as model for tighter oversight of the Federal Reserve.'&#8221;
&#8220;These pathetic journalists have clearly fabricated a story to give the impression that both I and the Trump Administration are setting &#8216;about restructuring the relationship … at a time when President Donald Trump has launched an unprecedented assault on the world’s most important central bank,'&#8221; Bessent continued, referring to the story as a &#8220;mendacious assertion&#8221; backed only by anonymous &#8220;financial industry executives.&#8221;
&#8220;In short, FT has literally manufactured an entirely fake policy position for me and the Administration,&#8221; Bessent said. He went on to say that he didn&#8217;t understand why The Financial Times would go ahead with such a story — which he said could only further damage their credibility as journalists — unless their sole priority was to paint a picture of discord and division in President Donald Trump&#8217;s administration.
&#8220;Over the past 10 years, I have written more than 20,000 words opining on the Federal Reserve decisions, personnel, structure, and modifications. Nowhere have I ever mentioned this ridiculous notion,&#8221; Bessent added. &#8220;The Governor’s letters to the Chancellor have proven to be a useless and perfunctory device. There is much to be said about the storied Bank of England, but any recreation of its operating framework on this side of the Atlantic has never been contemplated.&#8221;
Bessent concluded with one last shot at The Financial Times, saying, &#8220;The shameful journalists and editors at the FT are shocking in their meretriciousness, lack of standards, and general intellectual libertinism. It is the worst tradition of Fleet Street to manufacture news rather than report on it. They have brought irredeemable shame to their parent organization, Nikkei Inc., with whom I had previously held excellent relations.&#8221;
<a href="https://www.international-economy.com/TIE_Sp25_Bessent.pdf">Bessent&#8217;s argument</a> for change in the Federal Reserve had more to do with reining in &#8220;institutional bloat&#8221; and the &#8220;overuse of nonstandard policies&#8221; created to address specific issues.
&#8220;As we saw during the covid pandemic, when lab-created experiments escape their confines, they can wreak havoc in the real world. Once released, they cannot easily be put back into the containment zone,&#8221; Bessent explained. &#8220;The &#8216;extraordinary&#8217; monetary policy tools unleashed after the 2008 financial crisis have similarly transformed the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy regime, with unpredictable consequences.&#8221;

‘Tabloid Trash’: Scott Bessent Issues Scathing Response To Media Story On Plans For The Fed

'Tabloid Trash': Scott Bessent Issues Scathing Response To Financial Times Story On Plans For Fed

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WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Friday nominated former Federal Reserve governor Kevin M. Warsh to serve as the board&#8217;s next chairman.
Trump&#8217;s long-awaited <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-names-next-fed-chair-pick-he-will-never-let-you-down?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;author=Leif+Le+Mahieu&amp;category=News&amp;elementPosition=4&amp;row=1&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;title=Trump+Names+Next+Fed+Chair+Pick%3A+%E2%80%98He+Will+Never+Let+You+Down%E2%80%99" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a> comes after months of the president vowing to replace outgoing chairman Jerome Powell. Warsh came as a bit of a surprise, as conventional wisdom had coalesced around three candidates: National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, BlackRock executive Rick Rieder, and Fed governor Christopher J. Waller.
In a Truth Social post, the president said that Warsh would &#8220;go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best.&#8221; Warsh will need Senate confirmation to take his post, though with a Republican majority in the Upper Chamber, it seems likely that he will soon take the reins at the Fed.
Warsh began his career on Wall Street as an investment banker for Morgan Stanley before joining the Bush administration as an economic adviser in 2002. President George W. Bush named him to the Federal Reserve Board in 2006, where, at 35, Warsh became the youngest governor in the Fed&#8217;s history.
Warsh played a key role during the 2008 financial crisis, helping coordinate the central bank’s response. He was involved in efforts surrounding the government rescue and bailout of AIG and the emergency deal that led JPMorgan Chase to acquire Bear Stearns as markets unraveled.
After leaving the Fed in 2011, Warsh joined the board of UPS and became a distinguished visiting fellow in Economics at the Hoover Institution. Warsh met his wife, Jane Lauder, while they were undergraduates at Stanford University. Lauder is the daughter of Ronald Lauder, the heir of the Estée Lauder Companies and a close friend of President Trump. Lauder <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/15/ronald-lauder-billionaire-donor-donald-trump-ukraine-greenland" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> gave Trump the idea to purchase Greenland.
Warsh has gained a reputation as a fiscal hawk. “The United States is not Greece,” Warsh <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/kevin20100628a.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> in a 2010 speech. “We have the largest, most robust economy in the world. We have the deepest, most liquid financial markets. And the dollar is the world&#8217;s reserve currency, bestowing key advantages upon us. But, none of this is our birthright. It must be earned, and re-earned.”
He warned the Fed’s post-crisis stimulus could spark inflation and argued against expanding quantitative easing, pushing for a tighter monetary stance and a smaller Fed balance sheet.
He has argued that decisions over which assets the central bank buys and holds influence market pricing in ways he believes are better left to the Treasury Department. Like Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Warsh once worked for investor Stanley Druckenmiller, and has suggested that artificial intelligence could boost growth without reigniting inflation.
He has also drawn a firm line around the Federal Reserve’s role, stating, “The Federal Reserve is not a repair shop for broken fiscal, trade, or regulatory policies.”
Despite his reputation as a hawk, Warsh has recently argued for lower interest rates and sharply criticized Powell for moving too slowly.
“Their hesitancy to cut rates, I think, is actually quite a mark against them. It’s as if they’ve lost some of the credibility. Truth is, in economics and inflation, bygones are not bygones. The specter of the miss they made on inflation, it has stuck with them. So, one of the reasons why the president, I think, is right to be pushing the Fed publicly is we need regime change in the conduct of policy.”
Still, in December, the chief economist of Deutsche Bank <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/interest-rate-changes-could-be-on-the-way-under-kevin-warsh-trump-s-pick-for-fed-chair-11895919" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that “although Warsh has argued for lower rates recently, we do not view him as structurally dovish.&#8221;

Day Five Of The Spring Meetings Of The International Monetary Fund And World Bank

Who is Kevin Warsh? Meet President Trump’s Pick To Chair The Federal Reserve

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Jerome Powell

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent fired back at California Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom after Newsom mocked him for being “smug.”
In a Fox Business interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Bessent was discussing the Trump administration’s plan to limit or ban large institutional investors from buying single-family homes to ease supply shortages and keep housing more affordable for individual buyers.
The administration has floated measures to restrict big institutional investors (such as private equity firms and large corporate landlords) from purchasing single-family homes, since these entities have been accused of buying up large numbers of houses and reducing supply for regular buyers.
Bessent was explaining that any guidance on this policy would need to distinguish between true small “mom and pop” investors and large investors.
He used an example of a hypothetical small investor, saying, “We’re going to give guidance, at some point, to see, what is a mom and pop. Someone, maybe your parents for their retirement have bought 5, 10, 12 homes. So we don’t want to push the moms and pops out; we just want to push everyone else out,” meaning larger, institutional buyers.
Newsom mocked Bessent, writing on X, “Could this smug man be more out of touch?”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Could this smug man be more out of touch? <a href="https://t.co/GUqqi5KoNB">https://t.co/GUqqi5KoNB</a>
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) <a href="https://twitter.com/GavinNewsom/status/2013744283136991407?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 20, 2026</a></blockquote>
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Bessent fired back:
<blockquote>
Governor Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken, may be the only Californian who knows less about economics than Kamala Harris. He&#8217;s here this week with his billionaire sugar daddy, Alex Soros, and Davos is a perfect place for a man who, when everyone else is on lockdown, when he was having people arrested for going to church. &#8230; Shame on him. He is too smug, too self-absorbed, and too economically illiterate to know anything. &#8230; Let me know if you need any further clarification.
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
California Governor Gavin Newsom called the Treasury Secretary smug. Today in Davos the Treasury Secretary responded.. and I have to quote this: &#8220;Governor Newsom, who strikes me as Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken, may be the only Californian who knows less about economics…
— Edward Lawrence (@EdwardLawrence) <a href="https://twitter.com/EdwardLawrence/status/2013916326801068099?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 21, 2026</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Newsom never lived a middle-class financial life as an adult; his career wasenabled by elite patronage, not grassroots entrepreneurship, as his father, William Newsom, a judge and political insider, was close friends with Gordon Getty, heir to the Getty oil fortune. Getty bankrolled Newsom’s first major business ventures, providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in startup capital.
Earlier this month, AP <a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-budget-gavin-newsom-last-year-deficits-6811fe4519bac5145f4002959690a280">pointed out</a>, “California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the state faces a $2.9 billion budget deficit this year &#8230; It’s the fourth year in a row that the nation’s most populous state faces a multibillion-dollar budget deficit. This year’s shortfall comes despite growing revenues fueled by stock market gains and investments in artificial intelligence.”
Bessent came from a working family; his father was a real estate developer who experienced financial ups and downs. Bessent later earned a B.A. in political science from Yale University in 1984, then moved into finance.

MixCollage-21-Jan-2026-08-46-AM-5567

Bessent Fires Back At Newsom After ‘Smug’ Jab

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