‘What Is He Talking About?’ CNN’s Abby Phillip at a Loss After Trump Claims He Might Use the Military Against Bond Market

CNN’s Abby Phillip spoke for almost everyone when she asked what President Donald Trump meant when he said he could use the U.S. military to quell volatility in the bond market.

On Friday’s CNN NewsNight, Phillip teed up a clip of Trump hours earlier taking questions from reporters, one of whom asked about Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s decision to more than double the amount of U.S. bonds the department will buy back. The move comes as bond yields have been steadily rising since the beginning of the Iran war, which Trump launched in February. Higher yields mean a higher cost of borrowing, which can dampen consumption and slow the economy. Moreover, higher yields force the government to pay more interest.

“Did you direct Secretary Bessent to intervene in the bond market with your idea?” the reporter asked Trump in the clip.

“Not at all, no,” Trump replied. “He’s a very capable man. He wanted to do it. He’s very good at it. He has a good touch, very good natural touch for the bonds and interest. And he did that. Yeah.”

The reporter followed up by noting the yields nonetheless keep rising. Trump responded by suggesting he could somehow direct the military to act. The president’s response elicited utter bewilderment from the CNN host:

REPORTER: The yields have come back up since then. Have you talked to him about another type of intervention? Is that something he will be doing?

TRUMP: We have many types of intervention. That’s one. The ultimate intervention is our military. And if we have to use that, we will.

[END CLIP]

PHILLIP: Not sure what that’s about. He’s gonna sic the military on the bond market. What is he talking about?

Adam Mockler of MeidasTouch responded, “Uh, I don’t know, honestly.”

On Wednesday, Trump said he does not like hearing good economic news because that generally means rates are less likely to decrease.

“When our country does well, interest rates should go down,” Trump said at the time. “I mean, every time I hear our country is doing well I say, “That’s too bad because they lift up interest rates.” They should drop interest rates because it means we have a strong country and it’s all based on credit, meaning good credit. And we have the best credit and we pay off the debt very easily, very quickly…

Watch above via CNN.

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