Trump official flails when pressed on being a ‘soybean farmer’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, shown in June.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent acknowledged that after months of failing to comply with a federal ethics agreement, he has finally divested his holdings in thousands of acres of North Dakota soybean farmland. This comes after the uber-wealthy official boasted earlier this year about being a “soybean farmer”—a comment that “Face the Nation” didn’t let slide on Sunday.

Scott Bessent: I'm involved in the agriculture industry. I run a soybean farm, and I can—

Host Margaret Brennan: You own one. You invest in it.

Bessent: Sorry?

Brennan: You own or invest—

Bessent: People in my family go out and work on it. I actually just divested it this week as part of my ethics agreement, so I'm out of that business.