‘How Much Does Your Arm Weigh?’ Trump Treasury Secretary Serves Up Baffling Metaphor When Pressed On Whether Tariffs Are Driving Up Prices

Treasury secretary Scott Bessent stumped NBC’s Kristen Welker Sunday by deploying an odd metaphor in an effort to make a point on inflation and affordability.

Welker began by asking Bessent about why the administration was rolling back tariffs on more than 200 food products if tariffs “help consumers,” as Bessent has claimed.

Bessent said that inflation on imported goods, “has actually been flat.”

“Inflation is up because of the service economy and services, so that has nothing to do with tariffs,” Bessent said, “and many of the food items where the inflation is coming down. the USTR has been working very hard on trade deals, and the trade deals that have been in the works for six or eight months coincide with many Latin American, Central American countries where the food stuff you just named come from.”

Welker pressed on regarding food affordability, declaring, “banana prices are up almost 7 %, coffee prices up nearly 19%. Isn’t the fact that you’re rolling back tariffs an admission that ultimately they do drive up prices for consumers?”

That was when Bessent got creative.

“Kristen, how much does your arm weigh?” Bessent asked.

“That I do not know,” Welker said, laughing.

“Exactly!” Bessent said. “But you know how much you weigh, and you get on the scale every morning. Inflation is a composite number and we look at everything,” Bessent said.

“So, we try to push down the things we can control and, as I said, that we are working on — the energy prices are down and everything flows from that — and I think we’re going to see these other prices come down,” Bessent said. “And again, many of these goods were part of trade deals with countries that have been in the works for months.”

Welker asked if it will take weeks or months for the American people to see prices come down.

“Some are going to come down in weeks, some are going to come down in months,” Bessent said. “We just had the — in terms of affordability — we just had the best month in the housing market due to affordability, due to increased supply in October — best October in 3 years, best month since February.”

Watch the clip above via NBC’s Meet The Press.