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Scott Bessent: “The American people, they are beginning to understand…”

Featuring: Scott Bessent, Republican | Secretary of the Treasury | National

Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate'

Published March 22, 2026 | Video Starts at 12:44

Prices will come off on the other side for, for 50 years of not having an Iranian regime with a nuclear weapon. The American people, they are beginning to understand, thanks to President Trump, that there is no prosperity without security. I heard you say 50 days. Are you saying that prices could start to come down? What's the time? I was just picking, picking a point. (12:44–12:53)

CLAIM

Asserts that Americans are realizing the link between prosperity and security due to President Trump's influence.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Scott Bessent

“We have demolished the Iranian capabilities. Their air force is completely destroyed, Navy destroyed. And every day we are taking out their…”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 02:10-02:26
“The US Gets virtually no oil from the Gulf. We are an energy sufficient.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 06:11-06:18
“The largest the SPR release in history done by a coalition of 32 countries, 400 million barrels.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 08:00-08:09
“The maximum extra amount that Russia could get would be $2 billion, which is one day's of the Russian Federation's budget.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 08:46-08:58
“China was buying over 90% of the Russian oil.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 09:11-09:15
“The president's been very clear from the beginning that the goals are destroy the Iranian Air force and the navy to the completely demolish…”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 00:57-01:20
“We had a very successful bombing campaign against the military installations at Cargill island, the nexus for all the Iranian oil supply.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 03:15-03:24
“The command and control system of the Iranian regime is in chaos.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 03:29-03:35
“140 million barrels. That about 20 million barrels a day comes out of the Gulf. About 5 million has been repurposed by the Saudis, by the…”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 04:57-07:19
“Iran already gets a huge amount of the money because Iran is the largest sponsor of state terrorism and China has been funding them.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 05:42-05:51
“We are at between a 10 and 14 million deficit on a daily basis.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 07:24-07:32
“Prices in the US of West Texas crude are below $100.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 07:41-07:47
“We have not seen this massive spike as we did during the beginning of Russia, Ukraine.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 07:46-07:53
“Their exports have dropped about 25% when the rest of the world isn't buying it.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 09:33-09:39
“President Trump was within his authorities under the War Powers act to initiate this action.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 10:41-10:51
“We have a trillion dollars in this year's budget for the military.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 11:36-11:43
“President Trump, even before the conflict started, had said that he would like to further build out the military.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 11:43-11:50
“Imagine this regime, if they had had another year or two years to build out their missile capabilities, they would have built a shield…”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 13:18-13:33
“It is imminent impossible for either of us to understand what [President Trump] has been through.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 14:35-14:41
“We should all have a little empathy for what has been done to [President Trump] and his family.”
Scott Bessent defends U.S. military actions in Iran: 'Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate' | Uploaded March 22, 2026 | 14:48-14:48