Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent boasted Tuesday that the U.S. bond market has outperformed the rest of the world since President Donald Trump's return to office. But he made his comments as 10-year Treasury yields rose to their highest level in nearly 20 months amid a global bond sell-off that has raised fears about a repeat of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.
"It's been the best-performing bond market among major countries in the world," Bessent asserted during a "fireside chat" with a Fox Business host at the Group of 20 finance meeting in Asheville, North Carolina.
The hedge fund veteran and Cabinet secretary chose a starting point for his analysis that downplayed the bond market's reaction to Trump's presidency. Markets anticipate future events, and investors who began to price in the possibility of a Trump victory started selling off U.S. government debt well ahead of his Jan. 20, 2025, inauguration. Accounting for that context, the U.S. bond market has performed in the middle of the pack over the past two years.
Bessent and Trump have repeatedly made assertions about market performance and the U.S. economy that either skirt the truth or defy reason. Trump on Monday told reporters that, if not for the hindrance of too-high interest rates, the U.S. economy could grow at rates as high as 20%. But such a figure has only been reached once since World War II — and that was during the post-Covid rebound that followed a historic economic contraction.
On Monday, Bessent told CNBC's Sara Eisen the benchmark 10-year yield is "flat since President Trump came in," a sign of stability in the market. In reality, the 10-year is up about 18 basis points since Trump's second inauguration.
Bessent has made similar comments throughout the two-day G20 gathering, where he and Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh have focused heavily on finding ways to spur economic growth.
To be sure, the shift in the U.S. 10-year yield is smaller than what other top economies, including the members of the G7 alliance, have experienced since January 2025, according to CNBC's analysis.
But U.S. bond yields, which trade in anticipation of future events, had already been on the rise before the 2024 election. The 10-year Treasury rose by nearly a full percentage point from a low in mid-September 2024 until Inauguration Day, as traders priced in the possibility of faster growth, rising inflation and more debt. One basis point equals 0.01%, or 1/100th of 1%, and yields and prices move inversely to one another.
Bessent in Tuesday's remarks downplayed short-term bond moves as he touted the U.S. market, saying, "what happens over a month doesn't matter."
"If there were a problem in the U.S. bond market ... then people would be selling U.S. bonds and buying other countries' bonds," Bessent told CNBC on Monday. "But we are the best-performing market."
Government bond yields broadly rose across global markets on Tuesday, with some countries seeing borrowing costs hit multi-decade highs.
Uncertainty over the Fed's policy direction dovetailed with increased geopolitical turmoil — especially in Iran, where U.S. military strikes around the Strait of Hormuz recently resumed after a hiatus. The conflict has raised oil prices, stoking inflation concerns and adding upward pressure on bond yields.
Asked during a press gaggle later Tuesday morning about a spike in Japan's 10-year yield, Bessent said it is "difficult to deconstruct all the aspects that are behind any financial market move, since it's such a multivariable market."
"We have seen kind of global the yield rise," he added. But he noted that he has spoken with Japanese finance officials in recent days, and said, "I think that the Japanese are taking the right steps."
Bessent did not respond to a shouted question about the rise in the U.S. 10-year yield.
— CNBC's Megan Cassella contributed to this report.
Facts Only
* Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent asserted the U.S. bond market has outperformed other major countries since President Trump's return to office.
* 10-year Treasury yields rose to their highest level in nearly 20 months amid a global bond sell-off.
* Bessent stated that the benchmark 10-year yield was "flat since President Trump came in."
* The 10-year yield increased by about 18 basis points since Trump's second inauguration.
* U.S. bond yields had already been rising before the 2024 election as traders priced in faster growth, inflation, and debt.
* Government bond yields broadly rose across global markets on Tuesday.
* The rise in U.S. 10-year yield occurred from a low in mid-September 2024 until Inauguration Day.
* Uncertainty over the Fed's policy direction dovetailed with geopolitical turmoil in Iran.
* Bessent indicated that short-term bond moves do not matter over a month.
Executive Summary
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the U.S. bond market has outperformed other major global markets since President Trump returned to office. This comment was made while 10-year Treasury yields were at a nearly 20-month high due to a global bond sell-off, which increased fears of a repeat of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Bessent asserted that the U.S. bond market was the best-performing among major countries.
Bessent framed his analysis by downplaying short-term bond movements, suggesting that short-term fluctuations do not matter over a month. He suggested that if issues arose in the U.S. bond market, selling would occur in favor of other countries' bonds. The 10-year Treasury yield was reported as "flat since President Trump came in," although the actual rise since Trump's second inauguration was about 18 basis points. Furthermore, global government bond yields broadly rose on Tuesday, with some nations experiencing multi-decade highs in borrowing costs. Uncertainty regarding the Federal Reserve's policy direction and geopolitical turmoil, particularly concerning Iran, contributed upward pressure on bond yields through increased oil prices and inflation concerns.
Full Take
The narrative presents a tension between stated market performance and underlying yield movements, suggesting a deliberate framing exercise around presidential transitions and external risks. Bessent attempts to assert market leadership while simultaneously downplaying the significance of immediate yield changes, framing them as irrelevant noise ("what happens over a month doesn't matter"). This technique serves to create stability in the face of volatility, which is reinforced by his reference to the market being the "best-performing." However, the underlying mechanism involves acknowledging prior expectations—investors already priced potential economic growth and inflation into yields leading up to the election, meaning the market reaction was already partially embedded before the stated performance comparison.
The pattern highlights how high-level commentary can act as a shield against deeper structural concerns; when faced with uncertainty stemming from geopolitical events or monetary policy divergence (like the Fed's stance), shifting focus to an overarching performance metric provides an easy rhetorical exit rather than engaging in complex multivariate analysis of yield drivers. The correlation between rising yields and elevated inflation/geopolitical friction suggests that market performance is less about current state and more about the perception of future risk—a concept emphasized by Bessent’s emphasis on anticipation. The question for deeper scrutiny is whether this emphasis on relative outperformance successfully redirects attention from tangible, long-term yield risks to short-term comparative gains.
Bridge Questions: How does framing market performance as a relative measure mitigate the need for precise analysis of underlying inflation and growth differentials? What are the unstated assumptions about investor psychology that allow a focus on historical outperformance to supersede immediate risk assessment? If future geopolitical instability escalates, how will this emphasis on short-term irrelevance affect risk management across global sovereign debt?
Sentinel — Human
The text functions as an analysis of public statements by weaving factual market data and contextual commentary, exhibiting the structure of informed financial journalism.