Trump's Treasury boss visits NY diner, downplays gas-price surge as 'blip'
Trump's Treasury boss visits NY diner, downplays gas-price surge as 'blip'
Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY Sat, April 11, 2026 at 3:09 AM UTC
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YORKTOWN, NY − On a day reporting historic increases in gas prices and rising inflation, President Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary downplayed rising costs while promoting tax policies in suburban New York.
Scott Bessent, head of the U.S. Treasury Department, on Friday, April 10, visited a diner in a Hudson Valley swing district about 40 miles north of New York City alongside embattled Rep. Mike Lawler, R-New York.
Bessent's tour in northern Westchester County, intended to tout the Trump administration’s economic policies in a district key to keeping GOP control of Congress, came the same day as Trump’s worst inflation report in his second term. It also comes amid the highest monthly gas price increases in recorded history, 21.2%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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Rather than discussing economic fallout from the U.S.-Israel war in Iran, Bessent talked with residents and small business owners on the administration's policies, highlighting tax breaks, investment accounts for young children, and no taxes on tips for certain workers under the federal tax and spending bill.Before a diner roundtable with residents, Bessent toured Regeneron, a biotech firm, where he addressed rising costs with CBS News New York.
“This is a temporary blip from the one-time increase in gasoline prices,” he said. “If you look at the futures market, we’re going to get on the other side of this.”
Bessent didn’t speak to press at the event.
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, left, and Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) along with local business owners attend an economic roundtable at Hill Blvd Diner on Friday, April 10, 2026. The visit is to highlight the impact of pro-growth economic policies on New York businesses, including the benefits of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act for the 17th District.
At the Hill Blvd Diner, in Yorktown, Bessent and Lawler celebrated the state and local tax, or SALT, deduction for residents in high-taxed New York, which has been a sticking point for Lawler and other vulnerable House Republicans in Democratic states. Twenty salt shakers were placed around a U-shaped roundtable, with press viewing the gathering.
Latest Consumer Price Index data released on April 10 revealed gas prices in March spiked a record 21.2%, the largest monthly increase record collection began in 1967. Gas prices over the year are up 18.9%.
Meanwhile, consumer prices rose 3.3% year-over-year in March, the largest increase since in two years, but it was still far less than inflation surges in 2022, under former President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
In the latest report, gas prices accounted for nearly three quarters of increases in all monthly items. Consumer confidence is also dipping as wages aren’t keeping up with costs.
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, right, and Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) meets with local business owners before an economic roundtable at Hill Blvd Diner on Friday, April 10, 2026. The visit is to highlight the impact of pro-growth economic policies on New York businesses, including the benefits of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act for the 17th District.
Four years earlier, Lawler, a former state assemblyman, was elected when Republicans took back control of the House. Similar to many GOP candidates, Lawler won in part on campaigning against record inflation under Biden. Lawler narrowly beat the then-top ranking Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, who ran the powerful Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
In 2026, Lawler faces a tough re-election as Democrats set their sights on his suburban district.
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“Obviously the situation in the Middle East has created some volatility in the oil markets, which have driven up costs,” he told reporters, adding that, prior to the conflict, gas prices were down below $3 a gallon for the first time in years.
“The volatility that we're experiencing right now because of the situation in the Middle East is going to come to an end,” he said.
He added the United States is not reliant on Iranian petroleum, nor as reliant on Middle Eastern oil, but there is domestic production. But Lawler, who has supported Trump’s military operations, said he expected prices to immediately come down when the Strait of Hormuz reopens, which is now being tolled by Iran as the Trump administration tries to negotiate a resolution amid a two-week ceasefire.
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, left, and Congressman Mike Lawler (NY-17) meets with local business owners before an economic roundtable at Hill Blvd Diner on Friday, April 10, 2026. The visit is to highlight the impact of pro-growth economic policies on New York businesses, including the benefits of the Working Families Tax Cuts Act for the 17th District.
In recent months, Lawler has had several high-profile visits from senior cabinet officials. The Journal News/lohud.com, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz and Kelly Loeffler, who heads the Small Business Administration, all visited Lawler in the district.
While Bessent didn’t address rising costs, local representatives mentioned it to the federal officials.
“Our people are suffering,” said Brendel Logan, deputy supervisor in Ramapo, located in Rockland County, also part of Lawler’s district. Logan, a Democrat, supported Lawler for his bipartisanship. Yet she called on colleagues locally and in Washington, DC, to address costs for businesses and on elderly people.
State Assemblyman Matt Slater, a Republican, said the area was facing an “affordability crisis.” He supported the federal GOP policies to get reduce tax burdens in an already taxed state.
“These are the policies that we need to put … money back into people’s pockets, not more government, more taxes, more spending, where people continue to feel crushed by an overbearing government,” he said.
Claire Kerrigan, a bartender in Yorktown, told Lawler and Bessent she appreciated no taxes on her tips. The policy allows her to go out and spend more and not feel the need to put extra money aside for her property taxes or other costs.
But with rising costs, she said she’s prepared for it.
“You buckle up,” Kerrigan said. “You cut back. When you see something on sale, you buy three of them instead of one.”
Contributing: Rachel Barber, USA TODAY
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump's Treasury boss visits NY diner, downplays gas-price surge as 'blip'
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