Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was caught writing what some are calling cringey self-affirmations during Wednesday's White House Cabinet meeting. A photograph taken by Reuters photographer Evan Vucci shows Bessent's handwritten notes on what appears to be an official White House notepad.
Details of the Notes
At the top of the page, Bessent wrote the word 'Resilience' and underlined it. Directly below, he jotted down 'Operation Economic Fury', a reference to the economic pressure and sanctions campaign the Trump administration is waging against Iran. To the left of that phrase, a small arrow points upward to the word 'Resilience'.
Below these entries, Bessent bracketed the words 'Just in time. Just in case' with a checkmark beside them. At the very bottom, he wrote 'resilience' again, followed by 'prosperity' and a third word that is difficult to read but may be 'sow'.
Public Reaction
When the photo was shared on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, critics of the Trump administration were quick to mock the notes. Many ridiculed the term 'Operation Economic Fury', which is a play on 'Operation Epic Fury', the joint U.S.-Israel campaign against Iran that began in February. Some users suggested Bessent was writing buzzwords that MAGA officials would soon overuse to downplay domestic economic stress, while others simply found the notes embarrassingly stupid.
- 'Economic Fury: The manner in which the Trump administration has tanked the economy.' — Lynnez ?♥️?? Rib Gone Rogue (@RibGoneRogue)
- 'Hopefully, 'Economic Fury' is what voters will be feeling when they go to the polls.' — IcebergSBY (@Iceberg_SBY)
- '‘Economic Fury’ is what I feel when I need to fill up my tank with gasoline' — Make America Blue Again! (@KeepUsaGreater)
- 'It's concerning just how stupid the people tasked with running this country truly are.' — Scott J (@scottj1010)
- 'I think the bottom line says: Barbie accessories on sale at Walmart.' — Bill Johnson (@Bill43111)
- 'So those are the talking points we’ll be hearing over & over from all the sycophants' — You Got Fact Checked! (@UGotFactChecked)
Context of the Cabinet Meeting
Bessent presumably jotted down these notes during the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, where President Donald Trump rejected a plan for Oman and Iran to jointly control the Strait of Hormuz. Trump also threatened Oman, a U.S. ally for two centuries, if it did not comply with his demands. 'Oman will behave like everybody else or we’ll have to blow them up,' Trump said.
On Thursday, Bessent doubled down on the president's threat in a statement on X, writing that the U.S. will not 'tolerate any effort to impose a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz.' He added: 'Oman, in particular, should know that the U.S. Treasury will aggressively target any actors involved — directly or indirectly — in facilitating tolls for the Strait and any willing partners will be penalized.' Bessent concluded that all nations 'should reject' Iran's efforts to 'disrupt the free flow of commerce.'
