Trump administration warms to IMF and World Bank, in rare nod to global bodies.
One year after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly blasted the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank for deviating from their core missions in favor of trendier pursuits, the two global bodies have worked their way back into the “America First” administration’s good graces.
Other multilateral institutions, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), remain targets for President Donald Trump’s slashing social media posts. But the two financial organizations have avoided the president’s ire by adapting to his demands, an evolution that was on display last week during the annual spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
The turnaround is striking. In an April 2025 speech, Bessent assailed the fund for dabbling in “climate change, gender and social issues” rather than monitoring the global economy, and accused the bank of pursuing “vapid, buzzword-centric” initiatives.
Bessent last week struck a much different tone speaking to a financial industry group, saying both institutions were back on track. The shift illustrates the malleable contours of Trump’s brand of economic nationalism. Normally allergic to anything that smacks of globalism, the administration has warmed to these pillars of the global system created under U.S. auspices more than 80 years ago.
“Having a large pool of capital, both at the bank and at the fund, available to advance your specific narrow interests in some cases and your broader global financial stability interests, without dipping into U.S. taxpayers’ funds, turns out to be a good thing,” said Douglas Rediker, chairman of International Capital Strategies, which advises institutional investors.
For the Trump administration, the retooled Washington-based institutions have proved valuable in the worlds of both diplomatic nuance and hard finance. They have amplified U.S. complaints about how Chinese exports distort the global economy and buttressed nations that could be destabilized by the war in Iran, such as Pakistan, Egypt and Jordan.
Source: Washingtonpost