Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited with Arizona bankers during a Phoenix visit, courting a key Maricopa County constituency as polling suggests voters remain uneasy about the economy.
Appearing in a swing U.S. House district, Bessent defended President Donald Trump's financial reforms.
He argued the administration's deregulatory approach will help smaller banks compete with big ones. He highlighted a push to curtail banks from lending to undocumented migrants. And he reiterated the administration's push for wider changes to the banking industry, saying the landmark Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 keeps community banks "too small to succeed."
"A financial system that relies so heavily on local and community banks means Washington should have taken
greater care not to weaken them," he said during the Aug. 6 stop.
Bessent has become one of Trump's top surrogates as polling shows affordability is top of mind for many voters ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
An investment banker by trade, Bessent has overseen some of Trump's priority economic initiatives and has sought to calm investors during turbulence from the president's sweeping tariffs and the conflict in Iran.
The event was held at the Phoenix headquarters of the National Bank of Arizona, inside the state's 1st Congressional District, a well-to-do area that stretches across Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Fountain Hills and north Phoenix.
The high-earning, suburban area is an epicenter for conservative voters who have wavered on the GOP. In 2024, the district was the only one in Arizona to collectively vote for Republican Donald Trump for president and Democrat Ruben Gallego for the U.S. Senate.
Bessent appeared alongside another Treasury official and several local bankers to make the case that Trump's policies are good for small banks and investors.
Jonathan Gould, the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, praised the administration's efforts to eliminate "reputational risk" from bank supervision, a focal point for conservatives.
Mark Stebbings, with the National Bank of Arizona, promoted the president's "Trump Accounts" initiative, the tax-exempt savings accounts available to newborns born during his ongoing second term.
It was Bessent's second stop in Arizona this week. The day before, he delivered a message of economic optimism in Casa Grande alongside Rep. Juan Ciscomani, R-Arizona, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, telling reporters from a Frito-Lay manufacturing plant that "life is good" despite a recent wave of layoffs by the city's biggest employer.
The administration's decision to unwind the country's financial regulations has been a mixed blessing for small banks. The industry has benefited from some of the looser rules, but so have their much bigger competitors.
Bessent reiterated his message that the administration does not want to make banks assume the burdens of immigration enforcement. Rather the administration wants banks' help in fighting financial crime and fraud.
"While we ask you to watch over the integrity of our financial system carefully, that work compels those of us in Washington to listen to our community bankers just as closely," he said.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent courts banks in midterm Arizona stop
