President Trump said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will not be leaving his post to become the administration's artificial intelligence czar, shooting down a wave of reporting that Bessent was under consideration for the role.
According to a post from FirstSquawk (@FirstSquawk), the president put it bluntly: "TRUMP: SCOTT BESSENT WILL NOT BE GOING TO BE SUPER INTELLIGENCE (SI) CZAR. NUMBER ONE, HE DOESN'T WANT TO. NUMBER TWO, HE'S DOING SUCH A GREAT JOB AT TREASURY, AND THAT'S WHERE I WANT TO KEEP HIM! WHY WOULD I EVER MAKE SUCH A CHANGE? JUST MORE FAKE NEWS! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP"
The statement was carried by OANN (@OANN), which reported that Trump praised Bessent's work as secretary and said he wants to keep him at Treasury. "President Trump is shutting down reports that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent could become the administration's 'Super Intelligence Czar,'" OANN posted, adding that Trump said Bessent "doesn't want to" take the position.
The Washington Times (@WashTimes) reported that Trump "has ruled out Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to become his artificial intelligence czar, after several outlets reported he was under consideration for the position." Other coverage of the same subject described Trump ruling out Bessent in a Truth Social post, referring to the position as the "Super Intelligence (SI) Czar."
The story behind the story is the name itself. According to the Washington Post (@washingtonpost), Trump "has a new name for artificial intelligence, and he's pitching it at the highest levels, including to Chinese leader Xi Jinping. He wants to rename artificial intelligence to 'superintelligence.'" That reported push to rebrand AI as "superintelligence" is what gave the czar title its shape in the coverage that followed.
The rumor mill had been churning for days, with speculation about a possible shakeup at Treasury circulating in multiple outlets. The chatter suggested Bessent might be tapped for a newly created role overseeing the administration's artificial intelligence strategy — a position that, at least in the reporting, carried the "Super Intelligence Czar" title.
Trump's response, as relayed through the posts, was dismissive in the extreme. The president did not merely decline to name Bessent — he questioned why the move would ever be considered at all, given Bessent's performance at Treasury.
The reaction from conservative accounts was immediate and celebratory. Gunther Eagleman (@GuntherEagleman) wrote: "FAKE NEWS GOT SMOKED AGAIN! Trump just shut down the rumor that Scott Bessent was leaving Treasury to become the Super Intelligence Czar. Bessent doesn't want it. Trump wants him right where he is, crushing it at Treasury. The media invents a 'shakeup,' Trump calls it Fake" — the account's post trailing off mid-sentence, but the message unmistakable.
The thread running through the conservative reaction is a familiar one: that the press manufactured a story about an administration shakeup that the president himself says was never in the works. Whether the reporting originated from legitimate sourcing or speculation, the president's public statement settled the question of whether Bessent would be moving — at least for now.
The broader context here involves the administration's ongoing focus on artificial intelligence and its rivalry with China in that arena. Bessent has been leading trade talks with China, and the New York Times reported two days ago that the U.S. and China agreed to extend a trade truce by two months, with Bessent saying the countries had agreed to extend it until January. The Guardian reported one day ago that at a Trump meeting, Xi Jinping laid out terms to avoid US-China military conflict, with the Chinese president's proposals for lessening tensions coming amid intense competition between the two countries over AI and trade.
Given that backdrop, the prospect of moving Bessent — the point man on China trade — out of Treasury and into an AI-focused role would represent a significant disruption. Trump's statement suggests he has no intention of making that change.
"Number one, he doesn't want to. Number two, he's doing such a great job at Treasury, and that's where I want to keep him," Trump said, according to the FirstSquawk post. "Why would I ever make such a change? Just more fake news!"
The posts carrying the claim include @FirstSquawk, @OANN, @WashTimes and @GuntherEagleman. Each account framed the development differently — FirstSquawk carried the raw statement, OANN provided the explanation, the Washington Times characterized it as a ruling-out, and Gunther Eagleman treated it as a media defeat.
Notably, the Washington Post's reporting on Trump's desire to rename artificial intelligence as "superintelligence" — including his pitching of the idea to Xi Jinping — adds a layer to the story that the other outlets did not emphasize. The "Super Intelligence Czar" title appears to derive directly from that branding effort. According to the Post, Trump has been promoting the term at the highest levels of international diplomacy.
White House press access also surfaced as a separate storyline this week. CBS News (@CBSNews) reported that Pope Leo "reaffirmed his support for freedom of the press after being asked about President Trump's decision to bar several news outlets from the White House. Speaking to reporters aboard a flight from Rome to Paris, Leo said press coverage was 'very important.'" That exchange came in response to a question about whether the pope had a word for colleagues at CNN "having difficulties with the White House." The pope's remarks, as reported by CBS, appear to have been a general affirmation of press freedom rather than a direct comment on the specific outlets involved.
Next News Network could not independently verify the underlying reporting that Bessent was under consideration for the czar role, nor the specific characterization of the president's remarks as relayed through the posts and transcripts above.
The president's statement, as carried by the accounts above, appears to close the door on the Bessent speculation. Whether the "Super Intelligence Czar" position will be filled by someone else — and what the role would entail — remains unclear from the material available.
What is clear is that the president wants Bessent to stay put, and that he is characterizing the speculation otherwise as "fake news."
Our Take
The media's reflexive instinct to invent a "shakeup" in the Trump administration got smoked again this week — and the president's response was vintage Trump: blunt, dismissive, and effective. Scott Bessent is doing exactly what this administration needs at Treasury, particularly with China trade talks on the line, and the idea that Trump would pluck him out for a made-up czar position was always more wishful thinking than reporting.
What's telling is how quickly the narrative collapsed. Within hours, the president himself had to step in and say what should have been obvious: Bessent doesn't want the job, Trump doesn't want to make the change, and the whole thing was a fabrication dressed up as inside information. That's not a scoop — that's a setup, and it failed.
The "Super Intelligence" branding is worth watching, though. If Trump is pitching that name to world leaders, it's not just a rhetorical flourish — it's a signal that this administration intends to define the terms of the AI debate, rather than letting the bureaucracy or the tech billionaires do it. And keeping Bessent at Treasury while that fight takes shape is exactly the right call.
The press corps can keep manufacturing drama. The president will keep calling it what it is.
