{"id":56326,"date":"2025-11-23T10:38:17","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/geopolitical-tensions-and-economic-outlook-bessent-sees-easing-inflation-trump-blames-biden-for-ukraine-war\/56326\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T10:38:17","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T14:38:17","slug":"geopolitical-tensions-and-economic-outlook-bessent-sees-easing-inflation-trump-blames-biden-for-ukraine-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/geopolitical-tensions-and-economic-outlook-bessent-sees-easing-inflation-trump-blames-biden-for-ukraine-war\/56326\/","title":{"rendered":"Geopolitical Tensions and Economic Outlook: Bessent Sees Easing Inflation, Trump Blames Biden for Ukraine War"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>A <strong>recent government shutdown<\/strong> inflicted a <strong>permanent $11 billion hit to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)<\/strong>, according to Bessent, who also suggested that Republicans should consider ending the filibuster if Senate Democrats initiate another government closure.<\/li>\n<li>Despite <em>interest rate-sensitive sectors<\/em> currently experiencing a recession, Bessent expressed <strong>confidence in the overall U.S. economic growth prospects for 2026<\/strong>, asserting that the entire economy is not at risk of a broader recession.<\/li>\n<li>Bessent anticipates <strong>inflationary pressures to ease<\/strong>, with some prices expected to decline in weeks and others in months, largely attributed to falling energy prices and inflation primarily stemming from services rather than imported goods.<\/li>\n<li>On the geopolitical front, <strong>Donald Trump commented on the Russia-Ukraine war<\/strong>, stating it &quot;would have NEVER HAPPENED&quot; with strong leadership, while Bessent indicated a peace process is moving forward with Trump&#39;s pressure on Russia.<\/li>\n<li>Reports from <em>Yedioth Ahronoth<\/em> suggest a <strong>growing belief in the success of an assassination operation against Hezbollah&#39;s second-in-command<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The U.S. economic landscape presents a mixed picture, with a recent government shutdown leaving a significant and lasting impact on the nation&#39;s output, while inflation shows signs of moderating. According to Bessent, a recent government shutdown resulted in a <strong>permanent $11 billion reduction in U.S. GDP<\/strong>. Bessent also weighed in on political strategy, suggesting that Republicans should consider ending the filibuster if Senate Democrats move to close the government again.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the economic headwinds from the shutdown, Bessent offered an optimistic outlook on the broader economy. While acknowledging that <em>interest rate-sensitive sectors<\/em> are currently in recession, Bessent expressed <strong>confidence in the growth prospects for 2026<\/strong>, stating that the entire economy is not at risk of a recession. This perspective suggests a belief in the resilience of other economic segments.<\/p>\n<p>On the inflation front, Bessent indicated that <strong>prices are beginning to &quot;get better&quot;<\/strong> and expects some prices to decrease in weeks, with others following in months. This anticipated easing of inflation is partly attributed to <strong>declining energy prices<\/strong>, which are expected to help push down other consumer costs. Bessent further clarified that current inflation is primarily driven by services rather than imported goods. Additionally, an announcement regarding healthcare costs is expected this week, following Bessent&#39;s interview on NBC&#39;s Meet the Press.<\/p>\n<p>Geopolitical developments continue to draw attention. Former President Donald Trump commented on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, stating on Truth Social that the war &quot;would have NEVER HAPPENED&quot; with strong and proper U.S. and Ukrainian leadership. Trump attributed the war&#39;s origins to the &quot;Sleepy Joe Biden Administration&quot; and stated it began long before he took office for a second term. Concurrently, Bessent expressed confidence that the <strong>Ukraine-Russia peace process is moving forward<\/strong>, characterizing it as a &quot;peace negotiation&quot;. Bessent also noted that Trump is putting pressure on Russia to end the war.<\/p>\n<p>In the Middle East, <em>Yedioth Ahronoth<\/em> reported, citing a security source, a <strong>growing belief in the success of an assassination operation against Hezbollah&#39;s second-in-command<\/strong> today. This development signals heightened tensions in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways A recent government shutdown inflicted a permanent $11 billion hit to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[1008,4223,4824,5032,5067,5267,9616,10219],"class_list":["post-56326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-gdp","tag-inflation","tag-geopolitics","tag-middle-east","tag-russia-ukraine","tag-economy","tag-government-shutdown","tag-healthcare-costs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}