Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sits down with The Political Beat after G20 meetings

CHARLOTTE — The eyes of the nation were on Asheville this week as the United States hosted the G20 finance meetings at the Omni Grove Park Inn.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s first stop after the meetings was Uptown. That’s where he addressed the Charlotte Economics Club.

The Political Beat’s Joe Bruno sat down with Bessent to discuss the meeting, the economy, and Charlotte’s role.

“We wanted to showcase the beauty of Western North Carolina for visitors from all around the world, I had at least three members from the delegations tell me that they were taking extra days there to travel up on the Blue Ridge Parkway or to stay in Asheville, and then I thought it was important to showcase the resilience of the people in the area after almost the two years after the the terrible tragedy that was Helene,” Bessent said. “I think that the group actually believes that we can work together and get things done. I issued a president statement, which means there was no communiqué. That, but 19 out of 20 members agreed on the entire statement, so that there’s a concern with global imbalances, and that it both contributes to retarding economic growth in many countries.”

Officials from Truist and Albemarle Corporation were in attendance. It was the first time private businesses were invited to take part.

>> Watch Bruno’s full interview in the video at the top of the page.

©2026 Cox Media Group