U.S. Treasury Secretary Bassett has once again publicly criticized Wall Street investment bank analysts, with JPMorgan becoming the latest target. On March 6, Bloomberg reported that analysts at JPMorgan assessed in a report that the capacity of the U.S. government's Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide insurance for tankers in the Persian Gulf is far from sufficient to cover actual risks, implying the agency's capabilities are "too weak."
Bassett promptly fired back publicly on Fox Business, calling the report "terrible" and "completely irresponsible" analysis, stating it was based on a "completely false assumption." This marks the second time in less than two months that Bassett has publicly criticized Wall Street analysts.
The incident occurs against the backdrop of the Trump administration actively pushing to restore shipping order in the Strait of Hormuz. Earlier this week, Trump directed the DFC to provide reasonably priced insurance for Persian Gulf tankers to safeguard trade flows. On Friday, the White House further announced a $20 billion reinsurance plan aimed at revitalizing shipping activity in the Strait of Hormuz.
According to the Bloomberg report, JPMorgan analysts, including Natasha Kaneva, quantified the DFC's insurance capacity in a report released Wednesday. The report estimated that the DFC has approximately $154 billion in remaining capacity under its current lending limit. Meanwhile, analysts calculated the "maximum insurance gap" currently not provided by private markets in the Persian Gulf region to be about $352 billion. Comparing the two figures, the DFC's available funds are significantly lower than the potential risk exposure, leading the report to conclude that the DFC's "firepower" is "too small" to address Iranian risks.
Bassett fundamentally challenged this analysis. He stated on Fox Business, "I can't tell you how wrong that is," directly characterizing the report as a "bad report" and a "completely irresponsible" act. Bassett's core argument is that the DFC's insurance coverage does not need to extend beyond a vessel's departure from the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf region. He explained, "Once ships leave the Strait and the Gulf region, they can return to conventional insurance – so [JPMorgan's calculation] is entirely based on a false assumption." In other words, Bassett believes JPMorgan overstated the insurance gap by excessively expanding the coverage scope in its calculations, leading to a severely inflated figure.
This criticism of JPMorgan is not Bassett's first public clash with Wall Street analysts. According to Bloomberg, less than two months ago, Bassett publicly criticized an analyst from Deutsche Bank. That analyst's report suggested that Europe might reduce its willingness to hold U.S. assets given Trump's threats regarding Greenland, a claim Bassett strongly refuted. Both incidents follow a similar pattern: when Wall Street analysts' reports question the policy stance or executive capabilities of the Trump administration, Bassett chooses to respond directly and publicly rather than through conventional communication channels. This approach has created unusual public tension between a Treasury Secretary and investment banks, keeping markets highly attentive to policy communication methods.
On the same day as Bassett's criticism, the Trump administration announced a $20 billion reinsurance plan, responding with concrete action to concerns about shipping risks in the Strait of Hormuz. Prior to the DFC's reinsurance plan announcement, President Trump stated on Tuesday that he had directed the DFC to provide political risk insurance and financial security guarantees at "very reasonable prices" for "all maritime trade passing through the Gulf, particularly energy trade," with a key focus on covering energy trade. Analysis suggests this move directly addresses regional tensions following U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory actions from Tehran, which have impaired the functionality of the commercial shipping insurance market.
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