Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took to the airwaves Sunday morning to defend President Trump’s blunt celebration of the death of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press, Bessent urged the public to consider the personal and emotional toll that years of investigations have taken on the president and his family.
The controversy began Saturday afternoon when the president reacted to news of Mueller’s passing with a post on Truth Social. “Robert Mueller just died. Good. I’m glad he’s dead,” the president wrote. “He can no longer hurt innocent people.”
During a pointed exchange with moderator Kristen Welker, Bessent was asked if such a statement was appropriate for a sitting president, especially given Mueller’s background as a decorated Vietnam veteran and recipient of the Bronze Star and Purple Heart. Bessent declined to criticize the wording of the post, choosing instead to focus on the president’s perspective.
“I think that we should all have a little empathy for what has been done to [President Trump] and his family,” Bessent told Welker.
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To explain the president’s mindset, Bessent recounted a moment he shared with Trump in a green room at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He described watching a video of the 2022 FBI search of the Mar-a-Lago estate.
“There was a video playing of what may have been an illegal raid on his home,” Bessent said. “They are going through his wife’s wardrobe. And I watched the look in his eye, and I think that neither one of us can understand what has been done to the president and to his family.”
Welker noted that Mueller had no involvement in the Mar-a-Lago search, which took place years after his work as Special Counsel had concluded. Mueller’s 22-month investigation into the 2016 election ended in 2019 with a 448-page report stating that the office “did not find evidence likely to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Campaign officials… acted as agents of the Russian government.”
Despite Welker pressing him on whether the president’s reaction was acceptable, Bessent maintained his position. He argued that the scale of the legal challenges makes it “impossible for either of us to understand what he has been through,” repeatedly calling for empathy toward the Trump family.
Mueller died Friday at the age of 81. His family disclosed in August 2025 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2021, leading to his quiet retirement from law and teaching.
The former FBI Director’s health had become a subject of public debate earlier that month when the House Oversight Committee withdrew a subpoena regarding the Jeffrey Epstein case, citing health issues that “preclude him from being able to testify.”
Mueller’s death marks the end of a career defined by his 12-year leadership of the FBI from 2001 to 2013. However, his final years remained overshadowed by the “Russiagate” probe and the deep political divisions it sowed—divisions that were on full display this weekend following the president’s comments and the subsequent defense from his administration.
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