Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo put Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the spot Thursday over President Donald Trump’s failure to negotiate an end to the Russo-Ukraine War, negotiations that Bessent has continued to play an outsize role in.

Trump is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday for another round of in-person talks, though the meeting takes place well after the expiration of a deadline imposed by Trump for Russia to make progress in ending the war.

“The president was very clear, he said he's giving Putin 50 days until a ceasefire, then he came out and said it's 10 days away,” Bartiromo said. “He had a deadline of last Friday, but it came and went!”

Bessent argued that Trump did not allow his 10-day deadline to expire without consequence, citing the newly imposed 50% tariff levied on India for continuing to purchase Russian oil. However, at least as of Thursday, the tariff appears to have no impact on Russia, with India firing back at the United States by not only continuing to purchase Russian oil, but pausing previously planned purchases of American-made weapons.

“Two things: he brought the deadline back from 50 to 10, and it didn't come and go because we put those secondary tariffs on India, so he's created leverage there,” Bessent said. “And I think he's shown President Putin what's in store if things don't go well in Alaska.”

Were Trump to have made good on his self-imposed deadline and placed sanctions on Russia, Bartirimo argued, the president may have been in a stronger negotiating position for his talks with Putin in Alaska.

“Secretary, you've stated that sanctions on Russia can go up or they can be loosened depending on the outcome of this meeting between the president and Putin, but look, President Trump allowed his own self-imposed deadline to pass without doubling down on those sanctions on Russia,” she continued. “Why did he want to go into this meeting without the pressure of knowing that he just doubled down on the sanctions?”

Bessent has been a key economic adviser in helping shape Trump’s messaging toward Putin, and has warned European nations to align themselves with the United States’ economic posture toward Russia in an effort to end the war in Ukraine.

Trump’s impending meeting with Putin has already drawn scrutiny among some critics, however, who say Trump’s past affinity for Putin may play into Russia’s hands. Trump has responded fiercely to critics, lashing out at what he called the “very unfair media” led by “sick and dishonest people” who “probably hate our country.”

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