{"id":2583161,"date":"2026-03-24T08:07:02","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T12:07:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scott-bessent-snaps-at-kristen-walkers-ridiculous-question-about-funding-operation-epic-fury\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T08:09:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T12:09:49","slug":"scott-bessent-snaps-at-kristen-walkers-ridiculous-question-about-funding-operation-epic-fury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/scott-bessent-snaps-at-kristen-walkers-ridiculous-question-about-funding-operation-epic-fury\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Bessent Snaps at Kristen Walker&#8217;s &#8216;Ridiculous Question&#8217; About Funding Operation Epic Fury"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fscott-bessent-snaps-at-kristen-walkers-ridiculous-question-about-funding-operation-epic-fury%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2583161&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>An article from the Daily Caller News Foundation recounts a tense Meet the Press interview in which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismisses NBC\u2019s question about funding a war with Iran by raising taxes as \u201cridiculous\u201d and \u201cterrible framing.\u201d Host Kristen Welker presses for a clear yes-or-no on whether a tax hike is under consideration; Bessent eventually says a tax increase is \u201cnot at all\u201d what the governance is considering. The piece places the exchange in a broader defense-budget context, noting that President Trump approved a $900 billion defense budget for FY 2026 and later signaled support for raising military spending to about $1.5 trillion for FY 2027, with the Pentagon reportedly seeking around $200 billion to sustain the Iran operation. Welker questions the economic impact on Americans, and Bessent argues that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/billionaire-investors-assess-2024-election-in-presidential-races-twilight-hours-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Billionaire investors assess 2024 election in presidential race\u2019s twilight hours ... Washington Examiner\">temporary price increases<\/a> might occur but are justified by the goal of long-term security, framing \u201c50 days\u201d of elevated prices as part of achieving \u201c50 years of peace\u201d in the middle East. The article also mentions prior instances of Bessent challenging Welker\u2019s framing in other interviews and includes the DCNF\u2019s licensing and Disclaimer notes.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed NBC News host Kristen Welker&rsquo;s question about funding the Iran war as &ldquo;ridiculous&rdquo; and her framing as &ldquo;terrible&rdquo; during a tense Sunday exchange on &ldquo;Meet the Press.&rdquo;Welker asked Bessent whether the administration of President Donald Trump would &ldquo;ever raise taxes&rdquo; in order to fund the seemingly unpopular Operation Epic Fury against the Islamic theocracy. The treasury secretary initially responded by attacking Welker&rsquo;s premise but not directly answering her question.<\/p>\n<p>After Welker pressed Bessent multiple times for a &ldquo;yes&rdquo; or &ldquo;no&rdquo; response, he ultimately admitted a tax increase to fund the war is &ldquo;not at all&rdquo; what the administration is considering.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Again, Kristen, terrible framing,&rdquo; Bessent told Welker after she first asked the question.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a simple question that I think a lot of people have&mdash;,&rdquo; the NBC News host fired back.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a ridiculous question,&rdquo; the Trump administration treasury chief retorted.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Can you answer it?&rdquo; Welker asked.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Why would we do that?&rdquo; Bessent responded. &ldquo;We have plenty. We have a trillion dollars in this year&rsquo;s budget for the military. And President Trump, even before the conflict started, had said that he would like to further build out the military.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;So, is raising taxes under consideration at all if you&rsquo;re saying you have plenty of money?&rdquo; Welker pressed the secretary.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Not at all,&rdquo; Bessent replied.<\/p>\n<p>Trump in late 2025 <a href=\"https:\/\/afsc.org\/newsroom\/president-trump-approves-largest-military-budget-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">approved<\/a> a $900 billion budget Congress passed for Fiscal Year 2026 defense spending, a record at the time. Just months later, however, the president gave the green light to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/afsc.org\/newsroom\/president-trump-approves-largest-military-budget-history\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">request<\/a> to up military spending to $1.5 trillion in Fiscal Year 2027.<\/p>\n<p>Hegseth&rsquo;s Pentagon is currently requesting $200 billion from Congress to continue funding the war in Iran, a hefty package which at least one GOP congressman reportedly thinks should include financial aid to Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Welker also pressed the treasury over the economic impacts of the Iran war.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What do you say to Americans who feel they were promised lower costs and now they&rsquo;re getting the opposite?&rdquo; she asked him.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Kristen, I think the American people understand that any 50 &mdash; I&rsquo;m not going to put a time on it but let&rsquo;s just pick 50 &mdash; days of temporary elevated prices &mdash; prices will come off on the other side &mdash; for 50 years of not having an Iranian regime with a nuclear weapon,&rdquo; Bessent replied. &ldquo;The American people, are beginning to understand, thanks to President Trump, that there is no prosperity without security.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Welker then zeroed in on Bessent&rsquo;s apparent suggestion that prices may begin to fall after 50 days of military action, in mid-to-late April.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I heard you say 50 days. Are you saying that prices can start to come down? What&rsquo;s the time frame&mdash; &rdquo; she asked.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I was just picking a point. I don&rsquo;t know whether it&rsquo;s going to be 30 days,&rdquo; Besent said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know whether it&rsquo;s going to be 50 days. I don&rsquo;t know whether it&rsquo;s going to be 100 days. But to have 50 years of peace in the Middle East and know that the Iranian regime is defanged because, Kristen, what we had before was the illusion of security.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Sunday&rsquo;s exchange was not the first time Bessent attacked the premise of a question Welker asked him on &ldquo;Meet the Press.&rdquo; The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >treasury secretary notably told<\/a> the host Jan. 18 she was putting forward &ldquo;false choice&rdquo; framing by suggesting Trump had to decide between prioritizing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or obtaining Greenland.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/union-membership-plummets-to-record-low\/\" title=\"Union Membership Plummets to Record Low\">legitimate news publisher<\/a> that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter&rsquo;s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/mailto:licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org\">licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! 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If you want a longer paraphrase, I can provide one too<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2583162,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_7324.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[50410,10680,6513,74990],"class_list":["post-2583161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-controversy-2","tag-finance","tag-funding","tag-heated-exchange-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/IMG_7324.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2583161"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2583165,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583161\/revisions\/2583165"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2583162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2583161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2583161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2583161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}