ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has had a fondness for the mountains of North Carolina dating back to his childhood. And in a lengthy and exclusive one-on-one interview with WBT Radio, Bessent says this is the perfect opportunity to showcase the beauty and spirit of Western North Carolina. The Trump administration, we put over $5 billion into Western North Carolina for the recovery. “The Iran conflict has caused a temporary upward trend in energy prices, but that’s going to come back down. We peaked in May in energy prices.