U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday defended President Trump for his response to the death of former Special Counsel and FBI Director Robert Mueller. Trump wrote of the late Marine Corps veteran Mueller: “Good, I’m glad he’s dead.”
As seen below on Meet the Press, host Kristen Welker asked Bessent, “Do you think it’s appropriate for the President of the United States to celebrate the death of an American citizen, one who’s a Bronze Star, Purple Heart recipient who served in Vietnam?”
Bessent replied by saying he was with Trump in Davos, in August 2022, when news outlets reported on the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago. Bessent asserted it “might have been an illegal raid” and emphasized that FBI agents went through the wardrobe of the President’s wife.
Note: The agents in the Mar-a-Lago search had a search warrant, authorized by Attorney General Merrick Garland, which was part of an investigation into Trump under a different Special Counsel, Jack Smith, and was related to three federal criminal statutes regarding unauthorized retention of national defense information.
WELKER: Do you think it’s appropriate for the president to celebrate the death of a Bronze Star, Purple Heart recipient who served in Vietnam?
BESSENT: Neither one of us can understand what has been done to the president and his family
WELKER: But is it appropriate for the… pic.twitter.com/4nucH76VJJ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 22, 2026
Bessent said: “I watched the look in his eye and I think that neither one of us knows what has been done to the President and his family.”
Noting that Mueller, who issued his report in 2019 on Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. elections, “did not order that raid,” Welker pressed and asked Bessent again: “Is it appropriate for the president to celebrate the death of any American?” Bessent repeated his response and added, “I think we should all have a little empathy for what has been done to him and his family.”
Note: For years Trump has often used a “victim” tactic to frame himself as the target of “witch hunts” and political persecution by opponents, the media, and justice systems. As The Guardian reports, the tactic has successfully “mobilized his base, deflected criticism, and maintained a narrative of defiance.”
Republicans outside of the White House have criticized Trump for his remarks including Fox News host Brit Hume (“This is the kind of stuff Trump does that makes people not just oppose him but hate him. There was no need to say anything”) and Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), who called Trump’s response celebrating the death of Mueller “clearly wrong and unchristian.”