President Donald Trump’s trade narrative took an embarrassing hit this week after his own treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, was left visibly flustered on live television while trying to defend the administration’s failing economic policies.
The moment capped months of false claims from Trump and his team about trade “victories.” Trump has bragged repeatedly that he secured $15 trillion in foreign investment through his tariff battles, but court filings by Bessent himself inadvertently exposed the real figure to be closer to $2.35 trillion.
Trump has repeatedly bragged about securing trillions through trade deals to offset tariffs, but he’s never provided concrete numbers or proof — only inflated claims about money flowing in from other countries.
While the legal filings quietly exposed exaggerations, Bessent’s own words on CNBC’s Squawk Box earlier this week, made them impossible to spin.
Facing questions about why U.S. farmers had been cut off from Chinese markets, Bessent deflected. He insisted Beijing followed through on agricultural purchases “during President Trump’s term in 2020,” but then blamed Biden for what happened next.
“And then, under President Biden, their feet were not held to the fire for these ag purchases,” Bessent claimed. Pressed further, he recalled a purported exchange with a Chinese delegation in May. “When I asked him, ‘Why didn’t you continue buying soybeans and the other products?’ they had one word. Guess what it was. ‘Biden.’”
Host Joe Kernen was momentarily speechless before repeating the line back flatly, “Biden.” Then, in a nod to Biden’s own rhetoric, he added, “Well, that sounds like malarkey. Come on, man!”
Viewers took notice too.
“CNBC’s Joe Kernen didn’t even blink called it straight-up malarkey. Translation: the spin is weak, the excuses are thin, and anyone buying that narrative is missing the bigger picture of who’s actually rigging trade deals. This isn’t subtle—it’s chaos dressed as policy,” wrote one user on X.
Another called it the “standard bullsh*t answer” while another issued their own fact check, “FACT CHECK – Republicans spew lies faster than a Colorado white out spews snowflakes”
Another noted, “Blaming Biden for China’s soybean buys? Pure MAGA fairy tale.
When even CNBC calls it “malarkey,” you know the lie stinks.”
The exchange underscored the gap between the administration’s spin and the reality on the ground. U.S. Department of Agriculture data shows China has purchased exactly zero dollars of American soybeans since May, after imposing retaliatory tariffs in response to Trump’s policies. Instead, Beijing has turned to cheaper suppliers in South America.
Bessent’s stumble came just days after another embarrassment circulated widely. A photographer captured an image of his phone showing a text message from Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, warning that the administration’s bailout of Argentina was backfiring.
According to CNN, Rollins noted that Argentina’s rollback of export tariffs on grain had made its soybeans more attractive to China, further weakening U.S. farmers’ position. “Soy prices are dropping further because of it. This gives China more leverage on us,” the message read.
Once again, the commentary was brutal. “Text messages reveal people within the Trump regime acknowledge that China has taken advantage of Trump’s incompetence and stupidity and completely outmaneuvered Scott Bessent and the rest of Trump’s tariff negotiating team,” mocked one user.
In the hasty filing, “Bessent confesses that Trump’s past claims that he had made trade deals were false. What Trump claimed in ‘fact sheets’ were ‘deals’ are in fact just ‘frameworks,’ and Bessent is still working on negotiating ‘towards binding agreements,’” reported independent journalist Marcy Wheeler.
The MAGA world always remains silent when their dear leader is caught telling bald-faced lies, but opponents had plenty to say about Trump’s grift.
“This really should surprise no one. Trump has ALWAYS pulled numbers from air that have easily proven false before. He obviously cannot do math,” Paul Heintz wrote on MSN in response to the story.
“Frameworks for agreements are not agreements,” another reader observed.
“In the meantime, U.S. farmers are beginning the fall harvest without selling a single bushel of soybeans to China. Normally by now, 25–30% of the crop would already be booked for China. A year from now, we’ll finally start to feel the weight of Trump’s reckless policies,” R Barnes commented.
The Trump administration is appealing a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that the President does not have the power to impose tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act because the law does not grant him the authority to do so.
