Fox News Host Snaps at Trump Official Defending Tariffs
Maria Bartiromo had enough after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent tried a new explanation for why tariffs are necessary.

Fox News host Maria Bartiromo grew fed up Tuesday morning with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s feeble attempt to defend Trump’s tariff policies.
“As important as a tariff are some of these non-tariff barriers, where they have domestic content production, where they do testing on … food, our products, that bear no resemblance to safety or anything that we do to their products,” Bessent mentioned.
“See, these are the things that people are really worried about. Because they first thought it was just about trade. Then, they thought it was just about fentanyl. Then, after that we talked about, ‘Well, maybe it’s currency manipulation.’ Now you’re talking about food testing,” Fox News’s Bartiromo pressed. “And when I bring up the issue of clarity, that’s what I’m talking about, and that’s what I’m hearing from corporate America, that we’re not sure where this is going.”
“But of course, we will get resolution on April 2,” Batiromo continued, referring to the date Trump plans to announce yet another set of tariffs.
Trump has continued to portray the economic impacts of his tariffs as temporary, transitional, and even positive. That could not be further from the truth, as Americans in both blue and red states prepare to take a direct hit from the president’s own spite.
Bartiromo loses patience with Bessent over tariffs: "See, these are the things that people are really worried about. Because they first thought it was just about trade. Then they thought it was just about fentanyl. Then after that we talked about, 'well, maybe it's currency… pic.twitter.com/sbWIaY7kLb
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 18, 2025