Bessent: Girl with two dolls this Christmas will have ‘better life than parents’

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent leaned into President Trump's doll analogy in remarks about economic uncertainty on Tuesday, arguing that a young girl with less dolls this Christmas could have a better life than the generation before her.

Bessent, in an appearance on Fox News Channel's "The Ingraham Angle," defended Trump's recent suggestion that the U.S. needs a cultural shift on consumer spending. He argued that because of the rising cost of goods due to Trump's sweeping tariffs, children in the U.S. could have an improved life in the long term, a subtle dig at overconsumption.

“This reporter behind me was quite snarky the other day when President Trump talked about the girl having two dolls and he said, well, what — the president didn't take the question, but he said, what would you tell that girl?” Bessent said during the interview.

He added, “And I said, ‘I would tell that young girl that you will have a better life than your parents, that you and your family, thanks to President Trump, can now be confident again that you will have a better life than your parents which working class Americans had abandoned that idea. Your family will own a home. You will be able to… advance. You will have a good education you will have economic freedom.’”

Trump and top officials in recent days have changed their tune on the economy, suggesting Americans should buy less and will probably pay more as a result of the tariffs.

Fox News's Laura Ingraham called reporting that toys will be limited around the holidays “fear-mongering” and questioned Bessent about the political and consumer pressure about fears of rising prices in the wake of Trump's trade war.

“We are going to stick to our guns, but again, the U.S. and China have shared interest. They are the deficit country though. They sell us about four times more than we sell them, so it would be felt harder in China,” the Treasury chief said. “But we don't want a decoupling. We don't want a decoupling.”

His comments come after the Trump administration imposed a 10 percent baseline tariff on nearly all foreign imports. The president has paused a majority of higher reciprocal import taxes, with the exception of China, which currently faces as 145 percent tariff on goods coming into the U.S.

The administration is currently negotiating trade deals — including rumors of pending talks with Chinese officials — but none have been announced.

Trump on Tuesday though downplayed the need for deals with foreign trading partners, a move that Bessent defended in the interview.

“President Trump has asymmetric information for what he's willing to do," he told Fox News. "We don't disclose it."

"And again with President Trump… the strategic uncertainty will make sure that we get the best deal possible," the Treasury secretary continued. "That's what's happening with the trading partners who are coming to us."