Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argued Sunday that President Trump may need to “escalate to de-escalate” the war in Iran — while asserting the higher prices Americans are facing because of the conflict are worth it to ensure Iran never builds a nuclear weapon. Bessent’s comments on NBC’s “Meet the Press” come one day after Trump threatened to “obliterate” Iranian energy infrastructure if the regime did not meet a 48 hour deadline to “fully open” the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump’s fiery ultimatum would expire just after 7:30 p.m. on Monday. “Sometimes you have to escalate to de-escalate,” the treasury secretary told “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker, when asked about the president’s threat – which came hours after he claimed he was considering “winding down” the war in Iran. Bessent argued that winding down the war while ramping up strikes “are not mutually exclusive.”
