Bessent says 'there are no guarantees' when it comes to recession

Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that “there are no guarantees” when it comes to a recession.

“Mr. Secretary, can you guarantee the American people here and now that there will be no recession on President Trump's watch?” NBC’s Kristen Welker asked Bessent on “Meet the Press.”

Bessent responded that “you know that … there are no guarantees, like, who — who would’ve predicted COVID?”

“So, I — I can predict that we’re putting in robust policies that will be durable,” Bessent added later. “And could there be an adjustment? Because I tell you that this massive government spending that we'd had, that if that had kept going, we have to wean our country off of that.”

Bessent’s comments come after a rough week for the stock market. On Monday, the stock market began the week with intense losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 890 points that day, dipping 2.1 percent. 

Conversations about a possible recession also rose in prominence this week, with one of Bessent’s predecessors as Treasury Department secretary, Larry Summers, saying on Monday that the odds of a recession were “close to 50/50.”

“I told @kasie @CNN [CNN anchor Kasie Hunt] today, I think there is a real possibility of a recession,” Summers wrote in a thread on the social platform X.

“I would have said a couple of months ago a recession was really unlikely this year. Now, it’s probably not 50/50, but getting close to 50/50. There is one central reason. Economic policies that are completely counterproductive,” he added.

Since the beginning of the month, stocks had dropped steadily due to underwhelming economic data and topsy-turvy Trump administration tariff announcements, but the sell-off escalated Monday.

Bessent also said Sunday on “Meet the Press” that he is “not worried about the markets.”

“I can tell you that corrections are healthy, they’re normal,” Bessent said. “What’s not healthy is straight up, that you get these euphoric markets. That’s how you get a financial crisis.”

“It would’ve been much healthier if someone had put the brakes on in ‘06, ‘07, we wouldn’t have had the problems in ‘08,” he added. “So, I’m not worried about the markets.”