"It's Main Street's Turn To Restore The American Dream" - US Treasury Secretary Warns Wall Street

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent laid out President Trump’s financial policy priorities for the American Bankers Association (ABA) on Wednesday, saying that Main Street America will now take priority.

Bessent speaking at the ABA’s Washington Summit, said, “For too long, financial policy has served large financial institutions at the expense of smaller ones— no more.”

The Treasury Secretary stated that, “It’s Main Street’s turn to hire workers, it’s Main Street’s turn to drive investment and it’s Main Street’s turn to restore the American dream.”

Bessent announced the Trump administration’s shift to focusing on helping Main Street businesses and consumers thrive by giving all institutions a chance to succeed, adding, “For the last four decades, basically since I began my career in Wall Street, Wall Street has grown wealthier than ever before, and it can continue to grow and do well.”

Addressing fears of a looming recession, Bessent defended Trump’s agenda of tax cuts, deregulation and trade rebalancing and noting that, 

“We want to de-leverage the government sector, re-leverage the private sector …. we can’t do it all at once, or that will cause a recession.”

Bessent added, 

“What will keep us from having a recession is making sure that the tax bill doesn’t expire, adding back 100% depreciation and then adding some of President Trump’s agenda — no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime.”

In an interview on CNBC, Bessent reiterated the president’s goal of bringing jobs and manufacturing back to the U.S. as well as raising wages, increasing revenues and reviving the American dream.

CNBC reports that while the wealthy own the majority of stocks, Main Street’s participation in the stock market has soared with the advent of individual retirement accounts (IRA) in the 1970s and 401(k)s during the Reagan administration.