Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent indicated Thursday that the Trump administration would be taking steps to stop anyone who receives welfare from wiring money to places outside the United States. In an appearance on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, Bessent revealed the administration will now require those on public assistance to identify their welfare status when visiting “money service businesses” with the intention of wiring money to other countries.
BESSENT: From now on, anyone who wires money out, from one of these money service businesses, has to check a box saying whether they are on public assistance. And, if you are on public assistance, we’re going to start pushing that you cannot wire money out of the country.
When asked by host Laura Ingraham what the government will do if welfare recipients lie, Bessent responded, “We’re going to follow it up and we’re going to push [so] that you can no longer do that. The American people – our generosity – has been taken advantage of.”
Ingraham noted that taxpayer money could be funding al Shabaab, a Somalia-based terror group with ties to al Qaeda that has been officially designated a terrorist organization by the United States, and Iranian interests, to which Bessent said, “The money is supposed to go for alleged asylum seekers and their families and children – and if you are wiring the money out of the country, one of two things must be true: you are getting too much money and your benefits should be cut, or you are part of this conspiracy. Where did that money come from? We’re gonna find out. That’s what Treasury does.”