US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent will speak at the American Bankers Association Washington Summit held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC on April 9, 2025.
Brendan Smirowski | AFP | Getty Images
Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s aim is to thrive for businesses and consumers on Main Street, despite the administration’s sudden new tariffs threatening to bring the economy into a recession.
“After essentially starting a career on Wall Street for the last 40 years, Wall Street has been able to continue to grow and become wealthier than ever,” Bescent told the American Bankers Association’s Washington Summit.
“However, for the next four years, Trump’s agenda will focus on Main Street. It’s Main Street turn, the employment worker on Main Street. It’s the turn to drive investment in Main Street, and Main Street will restore the American dream,” he said.
Trump’s higher tariff levies a week ago have driven the largest four-day defeat for stocks since the start of the 2020 pandemic. The S&P 500 is almost 19% off its record high since February, an inch away from the 20% bear market.
The wealthy people own most of the stock, but Main Street participation skyrocketed with the emergence of individual retirement accounts in the 1970s and the 401(k) of President Ronald Reagan. Furthermore, the stock market helps to shape business trust, which affects small and medium-sized businesses.
Hedge fund veteran Bescent worked with George Soros for years before establishing Key Square Capital Management, an investment company based on Madison Avenue in New York City. He became the leading economic spokesman on Trump’s agenda on tax cuts, deregulation and trade rebalancing.
“We want to leverage the government sector and reassess the private sector. …We can’t do it all at once. “What we don’t have to do is make sure the tax bill doesn’t expire, add 100% depreciation, then add some of the Trump agenda. Tip, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime.”
The fear of the recession has risen as Trump’s tariffs spurred uncertainty about how broad the trade war will be and how it affects economic growth, inflation and the pace of corporate profits. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Wednesday that the US economy is likely heading into a recession due to the trade battle.
