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Scott Bessent: “The US Gets virtually no oil from the Gulf. We are an energy…”

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 06:11

We have break the glass plans. And to be able this water, this oil is floating out in Asia and it is our, the mostly our Asian allies. The US Gets virtually no oil from the Gulf. We are an energy sufficient. So when we unsanction this, rather than the oil going to China, it can go to Japan, it can go to Korea, it can go to Indonesia, it can go to Malaysia, it can go to Iran too. (06:11–06:18)

CLAIM

Asserts that the U.S. is energy sufficient and gets virtually no oil from the Gulf.

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…”
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“The largest the SPR release in history done by a coalition of 32 countries, 400 million barrels.”
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“The maximum extra amount that Russia could get would be $2 billion, which is one day's of the Russian Federation's budget.”
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“China was buying over 90% of the Russian oil.”
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“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…”
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“We had a very successful bombing campaign against the military installations at Cargill island, the nexus for all the Iranian oil supply.”
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“The command and control system of the Iranian regime is in chaos.”
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“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…”
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“Iran already gets a huge amount of the money because Iran is the largest sponsor of state terrorism and China has been funding them.”
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“We are at between a 10 and 14 million deficit on a daily basis.”
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“Prices in the US of West Texas crude are below $100.”
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“We have not seen this massive spike as we did during the beginning of Russia, Ukraine.”
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“Their exports have dropped about 25% when the rest of the world isn't buying it.”
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“President Trump was within his authorities under the War Powers act to initiate this action.”
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“We have a trillion dollars in this year's budget for the military.”
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“President Trump, even before the conflict started, had said that he would like to further build out the military.”
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“The American people, they are beginning to understand, thanks to President Trump, that there is no prosperity without security.”
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“Imagine this regime, if they had had another year or two years to build out their missile capabilities, they would have built a shield…”
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“It is imminent impossible for either of us to understand what [President Trump] has been through.”
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“We should all have a little empathy for what has been done to [President Trump] and his family.”
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