‘He Had a Deadline’: Fox’s Bartiromo Grills Trump Cabinet Member on President Backing Down on Russia Tariff Threat

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on Thursday to discuss the upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

“It’s always a pleasure. Thanks so much for being here today,” Bartiromo began, lobbing an easy question to open.

“You’ve said the president is ready to send a very clear message to Putin on sanctions. You are also calling on Europe to back Washington’s push for secondary sanctions on any nation still buying up Russian oil. What do you expect from this conversation, and what do you want to say to European leaders right now on that subject?” Bartiromo asked.

“Okay, so two pieces there. One, the conversation: President Trump’s gonna go in and he has a negotiating strategy. He’s been putting a lot of pieces in place over the last couple weeks and days. So he’s gonna go in in a very strong position,” replied Bessent, adding:

And then two, I want to say that it is time for European counterparts to put up or shut up. They keep saying, “Oh, the U.S. should do this, U.S. should do that.” President Trump has put secondary sanctions or secondary tariffs on India because of their consumption of Russian oil. And the Europeans haven’t done that yet. As a matter of fact, the Europeans are buying the refined products that the Indian refiners make. So we need some coordination here. So if we are going to have a united front, which will give President Trump maximum leverage, then I think that our European counterparts need to do their part.

“Well, Mr. Secretary, I mean, look, you’ve stated that sanctions on Russia can go up or they can be loosened depending on the outcome of this meeting between the president and Putin. But look, President Trump allowed his own self-imposed deadline to pass without doubling down on those sanctions on Russia,” replied Bartiromo, a close ally the president considered to name as his vice president.

“Why did he want to go into this meeting without the pressure of knowing that he just put these—you know, doubling down on the sanctions? Because, you know, the president was very clear. He said he’s giving Putin 50 days until a ceasefire. Then he came out, he said, ‘It’s 10 days away.’ He had a deadline of last Friday, but it came and went,” added Bartiromo.

“Well, Maria, he brought the deadline back from 50 to 10, and it didn’t come and go because we put the secondary tariffs on India. So he’s created leverage there. And I think that he’s shown President Putin what’s in store if things don’t go well in Alaska,” Bessent replied.

“So do you believe there’s any shot that Putin is going to agree to a ceasefire?” Bartiromo asked, moving on.

“Maria, I don’t know. What I do know is this war never would have started if Donald Trump had been president. He is cleaning up the mess that he was left with. He is a president of peace, and he wants to see the bloodshed stop. We will see if President Putin is ready to negotiate. And this is his chance. If he wants to stop the bloodshed, President Trump is willing to keep the talks going, and he’s already talked about this is the precursor for a second round of talks. So it’s going to be up to President Putin, and as you know, President Trump is very persuasive,” replied Bessent.

Watch the clip above via Fox Business.