Carson Elm-Picard / MS NOW; Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
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“Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?” an exasperated Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during a press conference Monday, while introducing new sanctions against Iran. Bessent may think that’s still a self-evidently ridiculous question. George W. Bush didn’t want a Great Financial Crisis, nor did Herbert Hoover seek to start a Great Depression. Surely no White House would deliberately hurt the global economy.
Yet for the first time ever, that’s not the case. At home and abroad, the past few days have laid bare the extent to which Trump’s troubles on the economy are self-inflicted.
Last week, the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond reached a 19-year high and the administration took notice. Bessent’s solution was to intervene in bond markets by increasing the size of debt buybacks. But yields dropped for only a day before returning to their previous level, reflecting investors’ broader structural fears, including over the $40 trillion national debt.
For that, the White House can thank its own tax cuts, as well as those passed under the first Trump administration.
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Fayez Nureldine / AFP via Getty Images
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Unlike Trump’s first term, the Trump family businesses are making millions for the president with new development and licensing deals. Read more from Soorin Kim.
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Organizations that help service members leave the military as conscientious objectors are seeing an influx of concerns over strikes against alleged drug boats and targets inside Iran. Read more from Priya Sridhar and Peggy Helman.
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George Rose / Getty Images
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Dolly seems to have always been there — a monument in the Southern landscape I was raised in, a thread in the quilt of my life, writes Willie Carver. Read more.
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On Saturday, Sept. 26, don’t miss the chance to attend “Together in Texas: We The People 2026,” our annual live community event. As the country heads toward the 2026 midterm elections, we’re bringing conversations with top newsmakers and insights from your favorite MS NOW hosts to the place at the center of it all: Texas. Buy your tickets today: ms.now/together
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This week on “The Best People,” Nicolle Wallace is joined by host of “The Bulwark Daily” podcast Tim Miller to discuss a shift in President Trump’s more casual supporters. Listen now.
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