Watch CNBC's full interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent

Watch on YouTube ↗  |  January 20, 2026 at 12:28  |  18:44  |  CNBC
Speakers
Scott Bessent — Treasury Secretary
Joe Kernen — Co-Anchor, Squawk Box

Summary

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joins Squawk Box from Davos to discuss the US economy, Greenland, Fed leadership, deregulation, credit card regulation, and trade policy. He argues the US economy is strong, inflation should fall, and bank deregulation can unlock lending. He criticizes defense primes and says credit card practices and drug pricing face policy scrutiny.

  • Bessent says the US has the strongest economy and military in the world.
  • He hosted a critical minerals summit to reduce China's chokehold.
  • He expects bank deregulation to boost lending, especially at small and community banks.
  • He criticizes defense primes for delivery delays and buybacks.
  • He predicts inflation will drop substantially and the Fed may return to target.
  • He discusses Fed accountability and Powell's planned Supreme Court attendance.
  • He comments on credit card practices, drug pricing, and trade policy.
  • Greenland and European defense burden-sharing were also discussed.
Ideas
Scott Bessent Treasury Secretary 4:04
Critical minerals benefit from reducing China chokehold
Bessent hosted a Treasury critical minerals summit with G7, Mexico, India, South Korea, and Australia to get the world to move as fast as the US and avoid China's chokehold on critical minerals. This policy push is a positive setup for non-China critical mineral supply chains.
REMX MED
Scott Bessent Treasury Secretary 8:13
Deregulation boosts small and community banks
Bessent says Treasury and financial regulators are pursuing safe-and-sound deregulation, moving more lending into the regulated banking system. Oliver Wyman estimates $2.5 trillion of lending capacity can be created. He has made a big push with small and community banks because they power Main Street, and he expects both Wall Street and Main Street to do well, with results showing up in spades for 2026.
KRE KBWB HIGH
Scott Bessent Treasury Secretary 16:32
Defense primes failed; bring them to heel
Bessent argues defense primes exist at the pleasure of the US to serve national defense, but they have failed and many are 5 to 7 years behind on deliveries while buying back substantial stock instead of building new facilities. He says it is a good idea to bring them to heel, creating regulatory and governance pressure on the group.
ITA HIGH
Scott Bessent Treasury Secretary 17:08
Credit card practices face regulatory scrutiny
Bessent says there are things to examine in credit card company practices and that it is not unreasonable to have a discussion on those practices. With the president and Senator Warren aligned on some credit card rate cap concerns, this creates regulatory headline risk for credit card issuers, though Bessent says they will see where it goes.
Credit card companies LOW
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This CNBC video, published January 20, 2026, features Scott Bessent discussing REMX, KRE, KBWB, ITA, Credit card companies. 4 trade ideas extracted by AI with direction and confidence scoring.

Speakers: Scott Bessent  · Tickers: REMX, KRE, KBWB, ITA, Credit card companies