Trump crafted ‘win-win’ situation for US, Ukraine economic plan: Bessent

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said during an interview that President Trump crafted a “win-win” situation for the potential U.S.-Ukraine economic plan, a proposal that, in his view, will boost Kyiv’s security and bring the two countries into a closer relationship. 

“President Trump designed a win-win situation. It’s win for the Ukraine people because the know-how, the ingenuity of the American people go in, and it’s a win for the American people. And what we went in — and it’s the opposite of what the Chinese do,” Bessent said during an interview on Fox News’s “Special Report,” which aired Tuesday. 

“The Chinese go in, and they do these rapacious deals where they grab mineral rights. And what we suggested, and the document that I took, was a partnership,” he added. 

Bessent, who visited Ukraine last week and met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, said the purported economic cooperation between Kyiv and Washington is based on the “revenues that come from minerals, from natural resources, from state-owned enterprises, and the more they make, the more we make.”  

“So, the U.S., our side, would bring in know-how, we’d bring in capital, and we’d act as an accelerant,” he told host Bret Baier. 

Bessent said last week that striking an economic deal would send a message to Russia that Washington stands alongside Kyiv, and it would “provide a long-term security shield for all Ukrainians.” The Treasury secretary said last week that he gave a draft of the proposal to Zelensky. 

Trump has previously said he wants Kyiv to give some $500 billion worth of rare earth elements as of way of repaying for the economic and military aid Washington provided since Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 

Bessent said Tuesday he thinks Zelensky will be on board “once the Ukrainians understand that this is a long-term agreement that’s very beneficial to their security,” adding that the proposal is multipurpose. 

“It pulls Ukrainian and the American interests closer together. It’s a very strong signal to the Russians that we take our interest in Ukraine very seriously. It’s very important to the American people to know where their tax dollars have gone and that they’re going to — if more money goes in, that they could get a return on that,” Bessent said on Fox News. 

He added that “over the long term with U.S. interest on the ground there, it will act as a security deterrent to — when this crisis ends — when this conflict ends, it will act as a deterrent to further Russian aggression.”

Bessent also said that Trump should be given a Nobel Peace Prize for his work on the ongoing talks between the U.S. and Russia to reach a peace agreement in Eastern Europe, discussions that Ukraine, for now, is not a part of. 

“The plan that I’ve seen that President Trump has, you know, I think he could win the Nobel Peace Prize for this,” Bessent said. “If it were fairly awarded, I think in a year, he should get it from what I’ve seen.”