Treasury Secretary says Trump’s policies are bending inflation down and lifting real incomes

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Americans won’t have to wait long to feel the impact of President Donald Trump’s economic course correction. In an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, Bessent predicted that the United States will see a “substantial acceleration” in the economy during the first and second quarters of 2026, marking a major turnaround from the “terrible inflation” inherited from the previous administration.

“I think we are going to see a substantial acceleration in the economy in the first, second quarter,” Bessent said. “We’re bending that curve down, and the increase in real income… Americans are going to feel it.”

His remarks come as businesses brace for higher grocery prices — including the rising cost of ground beef. Omaha Steaks CEO Nate Rempe recently warned that ground beef could reach “$10-a-pound by next fall,” according to the New York Post. But Bessent noted that Trump has already taken direct action, signing an executive order lowering tariffs on key imports such as beef and coffee to help bring costs down.

Bessent didn’t mince words about where the inflation problem came from. “We inherited this terrible inflation,” he told Bartiromo. “We are flattening it out… Energy prices are down. Interest rates are down.”

He expressed confidence that Americans would begin feeling real relief soon, predicting that in the first two quarters of next year, inflation will fall while real incomes rise — exactly the opposite of what happened under Biden.

In a separate appearance on Fox & Friends, Bessent illustrated the coming shift with a simple visual.

“Imagine two lines,” he said. “There is the inflation line — we’ve got that under control… Then there’s the income line, which under Biden… you can’t get real wage growth from a government job. Real wages are going to increase.”

He expects those two lines to cross in early 2026, marking the moment Americans finally see inflation bending down while income climbs up.

After years of shrinking paychecks, soaring prices, and confusion about why groceries cost more than some car payments, Bessent says the turnaround is already underway. And with inflation cooling, incomes rising, and economic growth picking up speed, the coming year could mark the strongest rebound the country has seen in decades.

A brighter, stronger economic future is finally back on the horizon — and this time, Americans will feel it where it matters most: in their wallets.