Treasury Secretary makes astonishing confession about GDP numbers that ruled Biden’s presidency

President Donald Trump’s economic team is taking a different approach to addressing Americans’ economic hardships than previous administrations.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claims traditionally analyzed figures like gross domestic product (GDP) and the number of people paid in the U.S. workforce cannot be taken at face value when what people are saying counters those economic markers.

He detailed how the White House is listening to people’s concerns more than the economic indicators and vowed his team will go back to the drawing board because Americans still don’t feel financially stable a few months into the new presidency.

Bessent claimed former President Joe Biden’s White House made a ‘mistake’ by pushing back on Americans who felt anxiety over the state of the economy and their wallets when what was on paper showed a contrary picture.

‘They went with the numbers, not what the American people were feeling,’ Bessent told Chamath Palihapitiya and David Friedberg during an interview on their All-In Podcast last week.

In the 2024 election, Americans’ highest-rated concern impacting their vote was the U.S. economy and their own personal financial hardships.

Gas prices were at an all-time high and grocery bills increased by hundreds of dollars per month.

Americans say they feel the hurt in their wallets the most when it comes to grocery shopping and filling up their gas tanks

Since entering office, Trump has touted his team’s efforts to bring down the cost of gas and eggs, which surged to never-before-seen prices.

But Americans still don’t feel like they are in a better off financial situation and the country is spiraling towards a recession with the markets plummeting in recent weeks in the midst of a tariff war sparked between Trump and multiple U.S. trade partners.

Bessent said in his podcast interview that he’s making sure the administration is listening to Americans, and not just what they see on paper.

‘I was on Meet the Press yesterday,’ he recalled, ‘and there was something that said – ‘Well, the American people don’t believe Donald Trump’s doing enough on the economy.’ And I told the host, I said, ‘You know, the one thing I’m not going to answer is that they don’t know what they’re talking about.’

‘I have to have respect for how they feel, and then we need to go back and look at what is causing this anxiety,’ Bessent said, and vowed: ‘So that’s what that’s what we’re going to do.’

Podcast co-host Palihapitiya said he sees there is a ‘data problem’ and questioned Bessent on whether the GDP and ‘nonfarm payrolls’ can be trusted. 

‘No. Look, they’re subject to big revisions over time,’ he acknowledged.

Bessent (left) joined Chamath Palihapitiya (right) and David Friedberg (center) for an interview on their All-In Podcast last week

Palihapitiya praised Trump’s team for having a ‘better beat on the fact that this data is not as reliable as other administrations would say they were in order to do whatever it is they wanted to do anyway.’

Bessent agreed with the interviewer, saying that the Trump White House would not use data to justify their actions and instead listen to Americans when they express anxiety or financial hurt.

GDP and non-farm payroll are often two indicators used to assess how the economy is doing. The latter references the change in number of paid workers in all businesses and industries besides farming.