Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a pointed response Friday to comments made by former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who accused the Trump administration of dismantling key aspects of her economic agenda during an interview with The Wire China.
Yellen, who served as treasury secretary from 2021 to 2025 under Joe Biden, told the outlet that she does not communicate with Bessent and alleged that he has “succeeded in undoing everything that was a priority of mine at Treasury.”
“This goes well beyond China,” Yellen said in the interview.
“It goes to reforms of the Internal Revenue Service, an international tax treaty with 137 countries that we negotiated, our attempts to evolve the agendas of the World Bank and IMF to address global public goods like preparing for pandemics and addressing climate change. All of that is completely dead. I don’t think he needs my advice on that.”
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In response, Bessent pushed back on Yellen’s claims and criticized her record while in office.
“Sadly, these bitter comments come as no surprise,” Bessent told The Wire China.
“Secretary Yellen’s greatest priority, when she actually visited the Treasury building, was leaving me and the American people with the largest deficit to GDP in American history when our country was not at war or in a recession.”
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Bessent defended the Trump administration’s approach to China, stating, “The Trump administration and I have engaged China in a respectful but fulsome manner, rather than being lectured and cowered.”
He also questioned Yellen’s policy legacy, saying, “I couldn’t even tell you what Secretary Yellen’s China policy was, aside from consuming beer and mushrooms.”
Holy. Shit.
Janet Yellen took a shot at Scott Bessent and he absolutely buried her:
“She left us with the largest deficit to GDP in American peacetime history… I couldn’t even tell you what Secretary Yellen’s China policy was, aside from consuming beer and mushrooms.” pic.twitter.com/2dQDxpKIYT
— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) July 18, 2025
Yellen’s comments follow previous reports involving her diplomatic trips to China.
In July 2023, she acknowledged that she unknowingly consumed hallucinogenic mushrooms while dining at a restaurant in Beijing.
Biden Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen explains eating “magic mushrooms” in China:
“I was not aware that these mushrooms had hallucinogenic properties” pic.twitter.com/N2d5hEdhEj
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) August 15, 2023
The incident drew widespread attention at the time.
In April 2024, she also visited the Jing-A Brewery in Beijing and sampled beer brewed with American hops.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gets drunk on beer in China pic.twitter.com/ajyOVwtjE7
— Sprinter Observer (@SprinterObserve) April 8, 2024
The remarks come amid ongoing debate over the direction of U.S. economic and trade policy, particularly in relation to China.
Yellen had emphasized global cooperation through multilateral organizations such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and supported climate-related financial reforms and international tax agreements during her tenure.
However, under the Trump administration, Bessent and senior economic officials have shifted toward a more bilateral and domestically focused strategy, reprioritizing American trade leverage and reducing emphasis on international agreements seen as limiting U.S. competitiveness.
According to the Brookings Institution, the U.S. budget deficit from October 2022 through August 2023 — during Yellen’s tenure — reached $1.5 trillion.
As a share of gross domestic product, the deficit rose from approximately 3.8% during the first 11 months of fiscal year 2022 to 5.7% in 2023.
Yellen has defended her policies as necessary for pandemic recovery and global economic coordination.
Bessent and the current Treasury team, however, have emphasized deficit reduction and targeted trade strategy, particularly in dealings with China and other major economies.
The exchange between Yellen and Bessent reflects broader disagreements between the Biden-era economic approach and the Trump administration’s current policies, especially with regard to international institutions, taxation, and bilateral trade negotiations.
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