Scott Bessent tore into the New York Times at the paper’s own media conference on Wednesday — accusing it of pushing distorted coverage of President Trump’s health while downplaying its own failures to scrutinize former President Joe Biden’s decline.
In a tense onstage exchange at the paper’s Dealbook Summit in New York City, Bessent warned Times reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin that the paper was drifting toward irrelevance and had become a “fever swamp,” insisting he no longer reads the Times himself.
The Treasury chief told moderator Andrew Ross Sorkin that Times articles forwarded to him proved the outlet had become, in his words, a “fever swamp,” insisting he no longer reads the paper himself.Getty Images for The New York Times
“I read this article, like ‘President Trump is slowing down. President Trump’s mental capacity –’ It is a hundred percent fake. Like he only called me twice at 2 in the morning last week instead of three times.”
According to the Times story, Trump holds far fewer public events than he did during the first year of his first term and travels domestically at a slower pace, even as he increases foreign trips.
The article also cited instances in which the president’s eyes drooped during midday meetings, and recounted questions surrounding recent medical procedures he disclosed without detail.
In a tense onstage exchange, Bessent warned that the Times was drifting toward irrelevance.Christopher Sadowski
In response, Bessent highlighted a lengthy Cabinet meeting as evidence the president was fully engaged as he faulted the paper for ignoring the pace of official work.
Bessent went on to accuse the Times of contributing to what he called “one of the greatest scandals of all time” through its “coverage of the Biden administration, Joe Biden’s diminished capacity, and the cover-up.”
Sorkin pushed back, arguing that concerns about Biden’s coverage meant it was “probably fair to raise these questions” about Trump’s condition as well.
A recent Times report said President Trump, now 79, was showing the realities of age: shorter public days, later starts, and moments in which he appeared fatigued during meetings.Al Drago/UPI/Shutterstock
Bessent rejected that argument, saying the paper had ignored Trump’s pace of work to manufacture narratives.
“Where was the New York Times? We just had a three-hour cabinet meeting yesterday, Andrew!” he said, before asserting that Biden rarely convened his own cabinet and asking how “you’re going to invoke the 25th Amendment if the cabinet secretaries never see the president?”
The Times’ most recent quarterly earnings show the publisher now counts more than 12 million subscribers, almost all of them digital.
Bessent escalated his criticism by accusing the Times of contributing to what he described as “one of the greatest scandals of all time” through its “coverage of the Biden administration, Joe Biden’s diminished capacity, and the cover-up.”REUTERS
The company added nearly half a million digital-only subscribers in the latest quarter, lifted revenue nearly 10% and posted double-digit profit growth
Its stock trades near a 52-week high, and analysts peg its valuation north of $10 billion.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi finally appears to be backing down amid recent escalating punitive measures imposed on Tokyo by China in the areas of trade, diplomacy, and tourism. Beijing has been dialing up the pressure for weeks, after the new prime minister nearly a month ago told Japanese parliament an attack on Taiwan by the People's Liberation Army could pose a "survival-threatening situation" for which Tokyo would be justified in intervening militarily.
Feeling immense pressure and blowback from the provocative prior comments, Takaichi on Wednesday while again addressing parliament reverted back to providing clarity that Japan's official position on the self-ruled island remains unchanged. "The Japanese government's basic position regarding Taiwan remains as stated in the 1972 Japan-China Joint Communique, and there has been no change to this position," Takaichi said.
The historic 1972 communique spells out that "the government of the People’s Republic of China reiterates that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China" before affirming that the Japanese government "fully understands and respects this stand
The communique further states that Japan "firmly maintains its stand under Article 8 of the Potsdam Declaration." China also often cites the Cairo Declaration of November 1943 as having the legal status of a binding treaty. The Cairo Declaration requires that Japan return any territory seized from China during war. The two documents formed the basis of the 20th century post-war WW2 era normalization of ties between the two historic enemies and rivals.
Since last month, China's Foreign Ministry has been insisting on a full retraction and apology from PM Takaichi over her 'defend Taiwan' remarks - which drew a sharp rebuke from ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. "Stop crossing the line and playing with fire, retract the wrongful remarks and deeds and honor its commitments to China with real action," Ning said at the time.
On Monday ministry spokesperson Lin Jian repeated the demand, urging Japan to "learn the lessons of history, do soul searching, take seriously what it has heard from the Chinese side, simply retract the erroneous remarks as it should and take practical steps to honor its political commitments to China." Takaichi's fresh remarks recognizing the status quo on Taiwan, which was spurred by questions from lawmakers, could soften the crisis - yet Beijing is likely to still keep up the pressure given her words stopped short of a formal retraction and apology.
"President Xi is trying to stir up trouble wherever he can and intimidate countries like Japan," Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) told ZeroHedge on Wednesday, calling Japan an important US ally. He described that he views the US stance of Strategic Ambiguity on Taiwan as "not necessarily a bad thing" because "we want President Xi to think not just once or not just twice but many times before he pulls the trigger which unfortunately I think is preparing to do."
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) also responded on the question of allowing China to believe that it owns Taiwan. "We shouldn't do that," he told us. "Taiwan has a right to be independent, they are a free and independent nation, they should remain that way. Whether we given them security guarantees if a different question."
"We should tell them 'you don't have any right to conquer them'. It plays into China's hands to treat the Taiwanese as if they're owned by China," Hawley emphasized, declaring further that "we ought to be clear about it."
China of course remains Japan's biggest trading partner, and has already taken harsh retaliatory measures including the curbing of Japanese seafood imports, the cancellation of films and concerts - as well as cultural exchange programs, as well as the drastic move of urging Chinese citizens to avoid all travel to Japan.
In addition to Japan's vital seafood industry being impacted, the restaurant scene is also feeling the fallout:
Diners once had to book weeks in advance to secure a table at Toya, a popular Japanese restaurant in Beijing.
But business has taken a sharp turn, with more than 60 reservations cancelled since mid-November, said owner Kazuyuki Tanioka, who has served omakase menus in the Chinese capital for over a decade.
And the film industry, per the same report:
The spat has also led to the postponement of Japanese film releases in China, the abrupt cancellation of concerts by Japanese musicians and the suspension of official exchanges.
A frequent traveller to Japan, Yan Jun, faced a dilemma when China advised its citizens to avoid visiting Japan. Chinese airlines proceeded to cut hundreds of Japan-bound flights this month.
China's PLA Navy and Coast Guard have also increased their presence near Taiwan and in and near disputed islands and waters. The latest incident involving Japanese and Chinese vessels happened near a group of geopolitically sensitive islands in the East China Sea on Tuesday, as we documented previously.
Chinese state media is also meanwhile highlighting that Takaichi faces backlash from within Japan as well. "Several Japanese lawmakers and prominent scholars gathered Tuesday evening at the Members' Office Building of the House of Councillors to urge Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to retract her recent erroneous remarks on Taiwan," Xinhua writes Wednesday.
"The meeting was held under the theme of demanding Takaichi withdraw her remarks linking a 'survival-threatening situation' for Japan to the Taiwan question and return to the starting point of the normalization of Japan-China relations," the report notes. If Takaichi does in the end back down, offering the requested retraction and apology, it will be seen in the region as a huge diplomatic 'win' for China after flexing considerable economic might.
Affordable Care Act subsidies have been granted, without the required documentation, to 90% of fictitious applicants over the last two years, according to a damning government watchdog report released Wednesday.
The Government Accountability Office’s (GAO) preliminary findings of ongoing and covert testing of Obamacare found “fraud risks” in the federal ACA marketplace, specifically related to the healthcare program’s advance premium tax credit – a subsidy Democrats shut down the government over last month in a failed effort to extend the tax credit for three more years.
“The federal Marketplace approved coverage for nearly all of GAO’s fictitious applicants in plan years 2024 and 2025, generally consistent with similar GAO testing in plan years 2014 through 2016,” according to the government watchdog.
The GAO found evidence that fraudsters were using the same Social Security number to enroll in multiple ACA plans and extract more taxpayer-funded subsidies.Getty Images
In plan year 2024, all four of GAO’s fake applicants received coverage with lower monthly premiums – thanks to $2,350 per month in Obamacare subsidies granted to insurers – despite not submitting “documentation to support Social Security numbers (SSN), citizenship, and reported income.”
The GAO upped the number of fake applicants to 20 in plan year 2025 and 18 still “remain actively covered as of September 2025.”
The subsidies that the 18 fake enrollees were approved for totaled “over $10,000 per month.”
Evidence of potential “misuse” of Social Security numbers, including dead people receiving coverage, was also discovered by the GAO.
In plan year 2023 alone, one Social Security number was used to receive subsidized insurance coverage “for over 26,000 days (over 71 years of coverage) across over 125 insurance policies.”
In 2024, 66,000 Social Security numbers were linked to more than a years’ worth of subsidized coverage.
GAO also compared Social Security numbers of the deceased to those that received tax credits and in 2023 and identified over 58,000 matches, including at least 7,000 people who died before coverage began.
The report explained that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the federal marketplace for Obamacare, doesn’t bar a Social Security number already used for an enrollment to be used again – in order to allow people to get coverage in instances where identity theft takes place.
Top Republican lawmakers described the report as the “smoking gun” proving their claims that Obamacare is “broken.”
“GAO’s troubling report is the smoking gun that shows how this broken system, shielded by Democrat policies, has led to the federal government shoveling tens of billions of tax dollars to insurance companies through identity fraud and caused health care costs to skyrocket for all Americans,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) said in a statement.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) was among the lawmakers that asked GAO to conduct the study.CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
The Senate is expected to take up a Democrat-led effort to extend Obamacare subsidies for three more years later this month.Christopher Sadowski
The GAO investigation was requested by Smith along with Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
“Republicans have sounded the alarm on the flawed structural integrity of Obamacare and how Democrats’ failed policies to temporarily prop up the program have exacerbated fraud, hurt patients, increased the burden on American taxpayers, and artificially masked the true health care affordability crisis plaguing Americans today,” Guthrie said in a statement.
“The concerning findings from GAO’s report further confirm that Republican efforts to strengthen, secure, and sustain our federal health programs are critical and necessary to ensure access to quality health care at prices Americans can afford.”
Jordan said the report “confirms what we already knew: under Obamacare, hardworking Americans saw their premiums skyrocket and their healthcare choices shrink, all while fraud benefitted insurance companies.”
“Obamacare was built on lies and broken promises that hurt families and drove up costs,” the Ohio Republican added.
As part of deal Senate Democrats struck with Senate Majority John Thune (R-SD) last month to reopen the government, the upper chamber is expected to take up a vote on extending the pandemic-era ACA tax credit, which is currently set to expire at the end of the year.
