August 31, 2026
WHEN: Today, Monday, August 31, 2026
WHERE: CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street”
Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC interview with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” (M-F, 9AM-12PM ET) today, Monday, August 31 live from the G20 Finance Ministers Meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. Following are links to video on CNBC.com: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/08/31/treasury-secretary-bessent-we-will-get-on-the-other-side-of-the-iran-conflict.html, https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/08/31/treasury-secretary-bessent-u-s-bond-market-is-outperforming-other-global-bond-markets.html, and https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/08/31/watch-cnbcs-full-interview-with-treasury-secretary-scott-bessent.html.
All references must be sourced to CNBC.
SARA EISEN: All right. Yes, good morning from the Blue Ridge Mountains. We are live here at the G20 finance ministers meeting in Asheville, North Carolina. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent already making headlines regarding Iran and China. And the secretary who is hosting the event joins me now live. Thank you for having us.
SCOTT BESSENT: Sara, great to be with you. And thanks for coming down to Asheville.
EISEN: Yes, I mean, it is beautiful. And you've assembled this great group of finance ministers, central bankers, and CEOs to talk about growth and U.S. growth in particular. And I do wonder if that if that's more challenging to do right now at a time where some of the foreign ministers are more concerned about high oil prices or tariffs and what all that's going to do with growth.
BESSENT: Well, they're all linked. And the oil prices are going to come down, and unfair trading system has impeded growth, especially in the United States. And, you know, I think what people are looking for is certainty. We're going to get on the other side of this, the Iran conflict. We reached a lot of trade deals last year. And what we want to talk about is the U.S. agenda. And again, Sara, it's not that different. If you take Europe, the Draghi report is many of the things that we're doing here in the U.S. It's deregulation. It's energy certainty. It's tax certainty.
EISEN: You've said a few times now that we're going to get to the other side on the Iran conflict. What sort of time frame do you have in your mind for that?
BESSENT: Again, it's going to be the when is this regime willing to come to the table? As President Trump has been saying over the past few weeks, he doesn't think they're ready to make a deal and I think that Operation Economic Outcast is going to make them want to make a deal between that and the blockade. They are cut off. We are, you know, we are starting to see their elected leadership openly complain about the state of the economy to, they're speaking to the Iranian hardliners in public. They're talking to the Iranian people. You know, the currencies collapse, inflation, the—
EISEN: It’s almost 100 percent.
BESSENT: Yes. I think food inflation's much higher. We're seeing gas lines. Unbelievable.
EISEN: If they don't care about their people, then—
BESSENT: Look, my experience with people like this, the main thing they care about is their head staying attached to their neck.
EISEN: So is the goal here regime change or just bringing them to the table to make a deal?
BESSENT: The goal here is to create the conditions that they will want to come to the table. And the President's been very clear. They have to give up their nuclear program. They have to turn over the highly enriched uranium, and they have to stop their support of proxies, and the strait has to be open.
EISEN: So it's by your assessment, is it working so far? I know you went after an Egyptian bank. You hinted that more, another bank is coming for sanctions. Can you really crush Iran economically without the help of China? China's been resistant.
BESSENT: Well, you don't know that and again—
EISEN: Publicly.
BESSENT: Again, as I've said many times, with many countries better to deal with them in private. But I would push back on that false narrative, that somehow the media has jumped on this, oh, you can't do it without China. That, well, you can, because one of the things is there's only the 30 million barrels of Iranian oil left on the water because of the blockade. So even if they were to get remittances from China, that's going to run out. And we have more in common with the Chinese on Iran than we disagree on. The Chinese agree that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. The Chinese agree that the Strait must be open to free and fair ship transit, so.
EISEN: So are you meeting with the Chinese finance minister here?
BESSENT: I had a very, the robust meeting with Governor Pan last night.
EISEN: Oh, really? Any news you can share?
BESSENT: Again, many things are left better—
EISEN: Asymmetric information.
BESSENT: Well, they're better done in private. And, you know, that I think people forget, we are the House, right? We do have the information. And over time, we win.
EISEN: OK, speaking of the House, you also had a meeting, well, at least you flew down here with Kevin Warsh, the Fed chairman. What did you guys discuss?
BESSENT: The weather, our tennis games.
EISEN: I think more specifically, are you on the same page when it comes to bonds right now?
BESSENT: Of course we're on the same page.
EISEN: And what does that mean?
BESSENT: Well, we both believe that the U.S., the bond market is the most resilient in the world. And let's just level set here for a minute, Sara. Everyone's talking about the U.S. bond market. U.S. bond market this month will have been the best performing bond market. The 30-year, the yield is down. The 10-year, the yield is flat. No other major bond market can say that. We are, the 10-year yield is flat since President Trump came in. And I'm not hung up on what rating agencies say, but two weeks ago, Fitch reaffirmed the U.S. rating. That was an inconvenient truth, so it didn't get any publicity. And if there were a problem in the U.S. bond market, Sara, then people would be selling U.S. bonds and buying other countries' bonds. But we are the best performing market.
EISEN: But it also kind of shows why there is this upward pressure on yields so it's a global move and why it might be hard for you to intervene to change the direction, which has been a big focus for the market.
BESSENT: Well, I didn't say I was trying to change the direction that the I don't believe that I can change the equilibrium price, but nothing is ever in equilibrium. You're either moving from equilibrium or away from equilibrium. And financial journalists, maybe not you, job and hedge fund managers’ job is to speed things up. Mine is to speed things down and make sure that everything is fact-based to let market participants know that things maybe aren't a one-way trip. And, you know, again, we are going to get on the other side of this Iran conflict. And I think, you know, we keep hearing about, oh, this AI build out, the financing for that is crowding, is creating a crowding problem.
EISEN: Crowding out.
BESSENT: Well, what is creating is a productivity boom that we are going to see on the other side of that. So whether it's in three or six months, we are creating productivity that will be, I suspect, disinflationary.
EISEN: So would you be cool now if the Fed raises rates in September?
BESSENT: Sorry, I'm not going to speculate on what the Fed may do or not.
EISEN: But the administration has been very resistant to that. President Trump does not want to see higher rates.
BESSENT: Again, it is my belief that we've seen a supply shock. And traditionally, you don't raise until a supply shock unless you see second or third order effects, and we are seeing the core inflation has remained very, very restrained.
EISEN: So I just want to make clear, you said that you're not necessarily trying to change the direction of bond yields, just slow down the rise. Because I was going to ask whether you're surprised we haven't seen your intervention and promise for more buybacks at the long end of the curve change the trajectory and the upward pressure on rates.
BESSENT: Well, I'll give you the counterfactual. But what if I hadn't done it? And Sara, by the way, that I haven't bought anything yet.
EISEN: Right. September 9th. But the signal should have been clear.
BESSENT: Yes. And that's why we're the best performing bond market this month, perhaps. But or—
EISEN: So you're OK with what the market's done?
BESSENT: Look, I'm fine with it. The market is the market. Like I said, I'm not trying to change, I can't change the equilibrium. And, you know, the other thing, too, is that, as I said last week, two weeks ago, that we are also working, Russ Vought and I are working on a fiscal consolidation package that we'll be talking about more in the coming weeks or months.
EISEN: So what about Stanley Druckenmiller's public op ed coming out against what you did? Someone who you've described as your mentor, did that surprise you?
BESSENT: Stan's a great investor. But what I would point out is that, again, the U.S. bond market has been the best performing market since the President came in.
EISEN: But that doesn't say much because all, you know, bond yields have been rising around the around the globe.
BESSENT: Not in the U.S. They're flat since the President came in.
EISEN: Got it. Have you talked to Stan since he put that out there?
BESSENT: I have.
EISEN: And how did that go?
BESSENT: It was fine. Look, Stan's a great investor. He changes his mind a lot. And he doesn't like losing money. I think he lost money the day he sent in the, sent in the editorial.
EISEN: Because the market moved against him. But what, I mean, ultimately, the point was, you know, let the 30-year do its thing and be the discipline that the U.S. government needs when it comes to fiscal policy.
BESSENT: Again, my job is to make sure that the market is looking at fundamentals and that the market does not dictate policy. As I said, hedge fund managers like to speed things up that they—
EISEN: You were one of them.
BESSENT: Sorry.
EISEN: You were one of them.
BESSENT: I was one of them.
EISEN: I mean, this is this is classic what you did, right? Betting against the British pound and the Japanese yen, identifying weakness and whether it's fiscal policy or monetary credibility.
BESSENT: Yes, but again, Sara, I think you're missing the point that the U.S. is the best performing bond market.
EISEN: I get that.
BESSENT: So I'm not sure where the weakness is.
EISEN: OK, I hear you. What about the Japanese yen intervention, which people are still buzzing about as well, because I think it went back to 160, not quite at the intervention 164, but still questions about whether that's been effective.
BESSENT: But again, Sara, what, I can't affect the natural equilibrium. What we can do is send a signal. And as I've said, I have information that the market doesn't have. And it's my belief that the Japanese government and that the BOJ will do the things that will lead to a stronger yen.
EISEN: Which would be raising rates, I guess.
BESSENT: Sorry. I think I think the market's pricing that in now.
EISEN: Yes, for them to raise rates. You know, Senator Elizabeth Warren wrote a letter to you, and then you wrote a counter letter which had some bangers in it foreign exchange for dummies, etc. And then she responded.
BESSENT: Well, what she hasn't responded to is the fact that she, who she is on the Senate Finance Committee, she's a ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee. And neither she nor her staff know the difference between a foreign exchange intervention—
EISEN: And a loan.
BESSENT: Or a currency swap.
EISEN: Yes.
BESSENT: So it is shameful, shameful, and more shameful is that the media hasn't called her out on it.
EISEN: Well, I think you successfully called her out on that. However, she does continue to hammer this point about how, and other Democrats do as well, how the administration should focus on America's cost of living and not be distracted by other things.
BESSENT: Well—
EISEN: And that's a point where they're, you know, they're really gearing up that point around the midterms.
BESSENT: Well, that's great because they torched the American people. 21.5 percent the inflation during Biden's term and Elizabeth Warren, so this is the Biden-Warren economy. Senator Warren placed a lot of the people in the Biden administration, she would say her sock puppets. And if you look, study from MIT shows that almost 50 percent of the great inflation came from the out of control spending that went on then. So we had a price level problem. We are bringing prices down. And you know, again, if you look, core inflation is very tame. And this has to do with the energy supply shock.
EISEN: Yes, I mean, expect this argument to gear up in the next three months. And finally, are you meeting with your Canadian counterpart here?
BESSENT: I am.
EISEN: Because I guess markets wondering if we're now in a tit-for-tat trade war with Canada.
BESSENT: Well, I don't think you can be in a tit-for-tat with someone who's 13 times larger than you are.
EISEN: They say they're doing OK.
BESSENT: What else are they going to say? You know, look, I think this is very unfortunate that Prime Minister Carney has turned this into the — a political shouting match. I mean, we're not at war with Canada. How are we going to be at war with Canada? They're going to take their two set submarines from the Edmonton Mall and sic them on us. That, you know, he came to power on an anti-American, anti-Trump agenda. He was 20 points behind in the polls. And then he started this. And it's unfortunate that he's not doing what's best for the Canadian people. He's doing best, what is best for the Liberal Party, what's best for Mark Carney. And in the long run, the other Canadian people are going to see through that. And you know, I will say, that they were offered the best trade deal of any country on the globe. And he chose to walk away from it at the last minute.
EISEN: OK, well, I look forward to hearing your readout from the meeting. Finally, the media here is buzzing about some of the econ reporters not getting fully credentialed. Does that was that a call that you made?
BESSENT: Well, I think, Sara, you're here. Three hundred reporters are here. So I think that's the important thing.
EISEN: Yes, and a lot of CEOs are here as well. And we're going to we're going to talk to some of them in the coming hour. Mr. Secretary, thank you for your time.
BESSENT: Good to see you.
EISEN: Good to be here. Secretary Scott Bessent, who is hosting everyone here at the G20 in Asheville, send it back to you for now.
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