WASHINGTON, June 4, 2026 — A tense exchange at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing took an unexpected turn Wednesday when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent responded to a question about whether President Donald Trump cares about Americans’ financial situation by asking Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., who the president was during World War I — and she said she didn’t know.
The exchange unfolded at the House Ways and Means Committee hearing, titled “Secretary Bessent Testifies on Treasury Department Priorities.” It began with Chu pressing Bessent on Trump’s recently reported comments about not thinking about Americans’ financial situations when it comes to the Iran war.
The Exchange
“Recently, President Trump proudly claimed that he doesn’t think about Americans’ financial situation when it comes to the war with Iran,” Chu told Bessent. “So I want to ask you, Secretary Bessent, do you agree with President Trump that you also do not care about Americans’ financial situations?”
Rather than answering directly, Bessent turned the question around. “Congresswoman, who was the president during World War I?” he asked.
Chu appeared taken aback. “Can you — are you refusing to answer my question?” she replied. Bessent pressed on: “No, I’m asking who was the president during World War I?” Chu responded: “I don’t know. But clearly you are not answering my question.”
Bessent replied: “So you don’t know who the president during World War I was.” He then attempted to make his point, invoking Woodrow Wilson and the United States’ entry into the war. “I promise you that President Woodrow Wilson, who was president during World War I, that the Germans did not attack us, that he got into that. It was a war of principle,” Bessent said — drawing a parallel to Trump’s Iran war decision.
Chu repeatedly tried to reclaim her time and return to her original question, at one point saying: “So I’m clearly getting the idea that you do not want to answer whether you agree with President Trump that you do not care about Americans’ financial situations.” Bessent eventually said: “President Trump does care about Americans’ financial situation.”
Bessent’s Argument
When Chu pushed back — “Well, he actually said that he doesn’t” — Bessent defended Trump’s comments as taken out of context. “That is a truncated thing, like everything is,” Bessent said. “He is future-proofing because I can tell you, Americans’ financial situations would be devastated if Iran got a nuclear weapon and there was a permanent shutdown of the flow of energy out of the Middle East.”
The Woodrow Wilson reference was Bessent’s attempt to draw a historical parallel — arguing that just as Wilson led the U.S. into World War I on principle even when Americans weren’t directly attacked, Trump’s Iran war is a forward-looking decision to prevent a larger catastrophe. “Woodrow Wilson felt the same, Congresswoman,” Bessent said.
What Trump Actually Said
Chu’s question was based on remarks Trump made in a recent interview in which he said he does not think about Americans’ financial situation when it comes to the Iran war — a comment that drew criticism from Democrats who have been pointing to rising gas prices and economic costs driven by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz since the war began in February 2026. The Strait carries approximately 20 percent of the world’s oil supply, and its closure has driven sustained fuel price increases for American consumers.
Bessent argued the full context of Trump’s remarks showed the president was making a long-term national security argument rather than expressing indifference to economic hardship.
The Woodrow Wilson Parallel — and Its Limits
Bessent’s invocation of Woodrow Wilson as a historical parallel drew immediate attention. Wilson led the United States into World War I in April 1917, nearly three years after the war began in Europe, after German U-boats sank American ships and the Zimmermann Telegram — a secret German proposal for a military alliance with Mexico against the U.S. — was intercepted by British intelligence. Wilson framed the decision as a war of principle and democracy against autocracy.
Critics of the parallel noted that the U.S. entered World War I after German actions directly threatened American lives and sovereignty — a different set of circumstances from the Trump administration’s preemptive strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in February 2026 that initiated the current conflict. Whether Bessent’s historical argument landed was difficult to assess given that the exchange was overtaken by the back-and-forth over Chu’s “I don’t know” response.
Context of the Hearing
The hearing was held in the 1100 Longworth House Office Building on Capitol Hill beginning at 10:00 AM ET. Bessent testified on the Treasury Department’s priorities including the FY2027 budget, trade policy, the Iran war’s economic consequences, and the administration’s approach to sanctions. The Chu exchange was one of the most viral moments of the hearing, drawing immediate attention on social media for the unusual nature of a cabinet secretary quizzing a member of Congress on presidential history during a formal budget hearing.