Treasury Sec. Bessent: Dem Shutdown to Cut Trump’s GDP Growth

The Democrats’ government shutdown could reduce gross domestic product (GDP) growth that has emerged under President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday.

During an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Bessent said U.S. economic growth could be hurt by the government shutdown.

“We were left with a mess [by the Biden administration]. It was the largest deficit when we weren’t in a recession, weren’t at war, and [now] we are fixing the deficit,” Bessent said. “There could be a discussion, but this isn’t the way to have a discussion — shutting down the government and lowering the GDP.”