Trump Strategy Against Fuel Costs and Overall America-First Economy

Barbara Boyd opens with diesel: as Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries tighten the world’s supply, President Trump threatened to halt U.S. diesel exports unless Europe released its emergency stocks, and the G7 agreed to release 100 million barrels. She presents it as the opening move of a 35-day economic offensive running into the midterms. The week of action includes Trump’s visit to the Peterbilt truck plant in Denton, Texas, where employee Sarah Renshaw credited tariffs for 1,000 new jobs; his Oklahoma rally; a White House luncheon with tech leaders on superintelligence; what the White House calls the largest steel plant ever built in the United States, coming to Iowa; Vice President Vance at the groundbreaking of Saronic’s Port Alpha shipyard in Brownsville, Texas; and South Korea’s plans for an Alaska LNG pipeline, a 6-gigawatt power plant in Texas and eight nuclear reactors.

On affordability, the episode walks through price increases under Biden (energy up 33% from January 2021 to January 2025), Vice President Vance on the inflation crisis he says the administration inherited, refining capacity, housing regulation and immigration, Secretary Kennedy at the MAHA Summit on AI giving every patient a better-informed second opinion, and the White House fraud task force’s crackdown on Obamacare enrollments. It closes with Michael Shellenberger’s account of the student riots in France, French intelligence tying the movement to Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Unbowed (LFI), and NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on a new golden age of space exploration. WATCH:

Scott Bessent Gives Lengthy Outline of His Role, National Security and the U.S. Economy

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent appears for an interview with Axios co-founder Mike Allen. The wide-ranging conversation covered the U.S. economy, the war in Iran and the Trump administration’s approach to AI.

Secretary Bessent responds to Americans’ frustration with the cost of living; explains why he doesn’t think the AI boom is a repeat of the dot-com bubble and argues that AI leaders warning about losing control should slow down. Bessent also discusses possible U.S-China cooperation on AI risks, Treasury’s economic pressure campaign against Iran, the bond market, Trump Accounts and his clashes inside the administration.  WATCH:

Chapters:

0:00 – Cold open
0:24 – Inside Treasury’s Cash Room
1:38 – Unpacking why Americans still feel squeezed
5:21 – Bessent’s economic campaign against Iran
7:35 – Is AI in a bubble?

9:44 – AI risks and the race with China
13:31 – Preparing for an AI shock
15:13 – How far Washington could go regulating AI
19:08 – Will AI create more jobs?
21:15 – “I am the house”: Bessent vs. the bond market
24:15 – When Treasury intervenes in markets
25:35 – Kevin Warsh and the Federal Reserve
28:25 – How a hedge fund manager became a MAGA favorite
30:32 – Running Treasury like a business
32:50 – The case for Trump Accounts
36:02 – “Fired if fired upon”
37:46 – Bessent’s childhood and economic insecurity
40:15 – Being gay and building a Wall Street career
41:44 – His repaired relationship with Elon Musk