Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended business leaders’ posturing for President Donald Trump during an appearance at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit — including Paramount’s decision to distribute a planned “Rush Hour 4” — while attacking a Times story about Trump’s age.
On Wednesday, Moderator Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Bessent in a main-stage conversation whether it was appropriate for Paramount, as it seeks to buy Warner Bros. Discovery and secure regulatory approval, to agree to distribute “Rush Hour 4” after Trump reportedly expressed a desire to Paramount investor Larry Ellison, whose son is Paramount’s CEO, for the Brett Ratner-directed film series to return. Ratner was effectively exiled from Hollywood in 2017 after multiple accusations of sexual misconduct, which he denied, before he emerged in January with plans to direct a documentary on Melania Trump.
“People look at this and people think that this is an example of a company trying to placate, that the president is trying to push [Ratner], and they are trying to placate the president,” Sorkin said.
“Come on,” Bessent replied.
Bessent dismissed the idea that Trump would interfere in “a transaction of that size” before questioning the impropriety of deals former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama struck with Netflix and Hunter Biden, the son of former President Joe Biden, had with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. (The Obamas’ deal was struck in 2018, more than a year after they left the White House, though Hunter Biden was on the Burisma board during his father’s tenure as vice president.)
“These things are very complicated,” Bessent said. “If you want to start pulling at every thread, then let’s start pulling at every thread of where Chuck Schumer’s children work.”
Bessent then questioned if Trump simply made an off-handed remark asking for another installment in the film series, which starred Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. He then pivoted to an attack on the Times for a recent story suggesting the 81-year-old Trump’s stamina had weakened.
“The New York Times is no longer the paper of record,” Bessent said. “I read this article, like, ‘President Trump is slowing down. President Trump’s mental capacity.’ It is 100% fake.”
Sorkin defended the story, as has the Times, and said that there was an appetite for more stories surrounding political leaders’ age after people criticized a lack of consistent overage of Joe Biden’s age. “There’s now a renewed sense that, given people’s age, that we should be doing more in that space,” he explained.
Bessent then said that questions over Trump’s age should be quieted due to his various public appearances, including a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, and compared the Times to progressive outlets like The Daily Beast and HuffPost, both of which have covered his age extensively.
