Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent said he would support hiking sanctions against Russia if President-elect Donald Trump directs him to do so and accused President Joe Biden of playing politics on sanction policy.

Scott Bessent, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary, said he would support dialing up sanctions on the Russian oil industry to end the war in Ukraine.Most Read from BloombergThese Homes Withstood the LA Fires.

Scott Bessent, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of treasury, looks on as he sits near his son Cole, on the day he testifies during a Senate Committee on Finance confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., January 16, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

Treasury secretary nominee Scott Bessent told senators Thursday he would be “100 percent on board” with increasing sanctions on Russia’s major oil companies if President-elect Trump supports that

Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent outlined a three-pronged approach to tariffs during his Senate testimony this week, including targeted tariffs, general tariffs as revenue generators and tariffs as a negotiation tool.

"I will be 100% on board with taking sanctions up," Treasury Secretary-pick Scott Bessent told lawmakers on Thursday.

Scott Bessent faced questioning by lawmakers from the Senate Finance Committee earlier Thursday as part of his confirmation hearing as a Trump Cabinet nominee. With President-elect Donald Trump's proposed tariff policies making waves ahead of his re-entry into the White House,

Three U.S. Army soldiers were onboard a BlackHawk helicopter that collided with a passenger jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

I’m not looking to hurt Russia,” President Donald Trump recently declared in a statement he posted on his TruthSocial account. “I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin.

The US Senate confirmed Scott Bessent as the next secretary of the Treasury, becoming the chief economic spokesman for US President Donald Trump and his sweeping agenda of tax cuts, deregulation and trade rebalancing.