Bessent says he divested himself from soy farm, defends payments

In a wide-ranging interview on Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that he has divested himself from a soybean farm in North Dakota to comply with a government ethics agreement, but the situation appears somewhat convoluted. The New York Times said it had not found any record of a divestment. The Times said, “The farmland was controlled by a limited liability partnership called High Plains Acres. According to the most recent filing with the office of North Dakota’s secretary of state, Mr. Bessent’s husband, John Freeman, was a managing partner.

“An official with the North Dakota secretary of state’s office said last Friday that no additional documents had been filed that would indicate a change in management of the fund,” the Times said.

“The terms of the divestment were not clear and the Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Office of Government Ethics did not respond to a request for comment and had not yet posted a filing to indicate that Mr. Bessent was in compliance with his agreement,” the Times said.Bessent also said he knows more about agriculture than any Treasury secretary since the 1800s, and defended the payments that the Trump administration is expected to make to farmers this week. He also discussed grocery prices and other issues. 

Here, from the CBS News transcript, was the exchange between Margaret Brennan, the moderator of “Face the Nation,” and Bessent:

MARGARET BRENNAN: “Well, I mean, grocery prices are up nearly 3% compared to last September. The president seems to be acknowledging that grocery prices, or at least beef prices, are a challenge, because he put out this order just yesterday saying they’re going to investigate corporate price gouging for high beef prices. Isn’t suing the food companies the same thing the Biden administration did, and it didn’t really work? How is this any different?”

SEC. BESSENT: “Well, nothing — nothing the Biden administration did worked —“

MARGARET BRENNAN: “So why are you doing it?”

SEC. BESSENT: “Because this isn’t the same thing. If they — if they had done this, if they’d done it properly, we’d be in a different spot. And like, beef is one component. Thanksgiving Turkey was down 16%.“

MARGARET BRENNAN: “Well, I know you are working on the trade front, and for American farmers and the prices that they are experiencing, that they’re feeling a pinch about not having a market to sell into, necessarily.”

SEC. BESSENT: “Not — not anymore.“

MARGARET BRENNAN: “Well, the agricultural secretary just said that the president is going to announce a bridge payment for farmers this week to give them short-term relief while you’re working on these — finalizing these trade packages. There are these low crop prices, and the soybeans in particular, I know you spoke with China’s vice premier Friday. Are they going to speed purchasing up?”

SEC. BESSENT: “Well, they’re not going to speed purchasing up. They’re in the cadence that we agreed to. Soybean prices are up about 12 or 15% since the agreement with the Chinese. They are going to buy 12.5 million metric tons. But Margaret, I’m involved in the agricultural industry. I run a soybean farm, and I can tell you —“

MARGARET BRENNAN: “You own one, you invest in it.”

SEC. BESSENT: “Sorry?“

MARGARET BRENNAN: “You own or invest in —”

SEC. BESSENT: “— People in my family go out and work on it. I actually just divested it this week as part of the — my ethics agreement, so I’m out of that business. But I probably know more about any Treasury secretary than — about agriculture since the 1800s and I can tell you that what farmers need is certainty, and we have put that in place with this trade deal. 12 and a half million metric tons this year, 25 million metric tons for the next three years, for soybeans, also sorghum, the — and lumber.“

MARGARET BRENNAN: “So those purchases, just to clarify, those will be this year, because I heard you say this past week that some of the purchases wouldn’t take place until February.”

SEC. BESSENT: “Well, for the — for the season, so the crop year.“

MARGARET BRENNAN: “The season year?”

SEC. BESSENT: “Yep.“

MARGARET BRENNAN: “Okay. But why — if everything’s fine, then why do farmers need a bridge payment from the Agricultural Department?”

SEC. BESSENT: “Sorry?”

MARGARET BRENNAN: “Why would farmers need a bridge payment from the Agriculture Department, then?”

SEC. BESSENT: “Because these prices haven’t come in, because the Chinese actually used our soybean farmers as pawns in the trade negotiations. And we are going to create this bridge because, again, agriculture is all about the future. You’ve got to start financing for planning next year when things will be very good.“

–The Hagstrom Report