Scott Bessent, Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary, is under fire from within his own party after remarks suggesting Europe must shoulder more of the burden against Russia — comments that one retiring Republican lawmaker said echoed the appeasement rhetoric of the 1930s.

In an appearance on Fox Business Network, Bessent said Moscow’s aggression should be met with tougher sanctions from Europe, but sought to draw a line between threats to Warsaw and Washington. “Putin’s not marching into Boston,” Bessent said, while praising Poland’s defense spending and post–Cold War economic rise.

That remark touched a nerve with Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), a former Air Force brigadier general. Bacon, who is not seeking reelection, fired back online: “This is how we talked in the 1930s, and we learned it did not work. We are in NATO for very good reasons.”

The clash spotlights a simmering divide among Republicans over U.S. commitments in Europe. Trump-aligned officials have long pressed for Europe to bear more of the financial and military burden of deterrence. But NATO’s Article 5 pledge — that an attack on one member is an attack on all — leaves little daylight between Warsaw and Boston in terms of U.S. obligations.

The spat comes as Trump himself has sent mixed signals about NATO’s role in countering Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, oscillating between praise for allies like Poland and skepticism of U.S. entanglements abroad.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)