In a post on X, Qalibaf used a picture of “Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner” animated cartoon to challenge Bessent’s assertion that the US economy is entering a “liftoff phase,” pointing to developments involving US fuel prices, Treasury holdings, military recruitment and Federal Reserve policy.
“Wheels up. Warm-ups before liftoff:
Diesel ATH: Short it
Your biggest creditor dumping: Good luck with Yentervention++
NOR cutting $80B: Rename Norway to Americaway
Low recruitment: Debt-to-Service w/ DO[Israel's]W, per your puppeteers
Oh. Fed's dot plot flashing red 😁,” he wrote.
Qalibaf’s post was a response to Bessent’s comments in an interview with Lara Trump in which the US Treasury secretary claimed that oil prices could fall to $40-$50 per barrel after the Iran conflict, while declaring that the US economy was in the “liftoff phase.”
In his response, Qalibaf referred to several economic developments. He pointed to US diesel prices reaching a record high, Japan’s position as the largest foreign holder of US Treasury securities and recent reductions in Japanese overseas debt holdings. US Treasury data shows Japan remained the largest foreign holder of Treasuries in June, with holdings of about $1.12 trillion.
Qalibaf also highlighted Norway’s proposed reduction of nearly $80 billion in US Treasury holdings. Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, has proposed cutting the fund’s government-bond allocation, a move that could reduce its US Treasury holdings by nearly $80 billion.
He further referred to declining US military recruitment and tensions between Federal Reserve policy signals and the US Treasury’s economic outlook, ending his post with a sarcastic reference to the Fed’s “red” warning signals.