Susan Kokinda says the Trump administration is pursuing a fundamentally different economic and geopolitical strategy from Europe and the International Monetary Fund, arguing that Washington is prioritizing energy security, domestic manufacturing and national economic growth over sanctions-driven energy policy and fiscal austerity.

Kokinda began by pointing to Europe’s latest sanctions package against Russia while noting that European countries continue buying Russian energy.

"Europe just rolled out its largest package of sanctions against Russia since the Ukraine conflict began. There's just one problem: Europe is still Moscow's biggest gas customer. And over the weekend, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant called them out."

Bessent accused European governments of financing Russia through continued energy purchases.

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"The Europeans have given the Russians more money they have since the start of this war than they have given the Ukrainians because they cannot wean themselves off Russian energy. They had a failed energy policy, and Vladimir Putin, they continue to fund him. So for them to say that we cannot have a respite in diesel pricing is completely hypocritical."

Kokinda then pointed to the European Union’s response, highlighting comments from Kaja Kallas.

"But that didn't stop the Europeans. Yesterday, the EU's Kayakalis doubled down."

Kallas defended continued pressure on Moscow and announced a significant expansion of sanctions.

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"There is a clear understanding that now is not the time to ease pressure on Moscow, and that's why today ministers adopted nearly 1,600 new sanctions listings targeting Russia's military-industrial complex; this is the single largest expansion of our sanctions list since Russia's war started."

Kokinda argued that the dispute over Russian energy reflects a larger break between the Trump administration and the postwar economic model favored by European institutions and global financial organizations.

"The Europeans do have the support of the usual cast of characters in the United States: the Democrats, the Bush Republicans, the establishment think tanks. But what none of them have is the whole card called reality, and that's the card Scott Bessent holds."

She connected the argument to President Donald Trump’s diesel agreement with Russia, which she said exposed the contradiction between European sanctions rhetoric and continued dependence on Russian fuel.

Kokinda then shifted to the IMF, arguing that the institution is continuing to push fiscal restraint while the Trump administration is focused on expanding the productive economy.

"The annual meeting of the IMF, which opened on Monday, continued to preach its doctrine. Now, throughout President Trump's second term in office, he and his cabinet have been clear about how to deal with America's debt. We can grow our way out of it. The IMF doesn't think so"

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said economic growth alone would not be sufficient to bring U.S. debt under control.

"Yeah, that is. It has grown too high, and the debt level is also too high. So, to improve the budget balance and reduce the debt, the authorities very much rely on strong growth in the United States at the fund; we believe that the growth, of course, helps, but it cannot deliver fast enough the necessary adjustments, so some measures would be necessary."

Kokinda contrasted that position with the Trump administration’s approach and noted that Bessent was not attending the IMF meeting in Bangkok.

"Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is not at the IMF meeting, which is going on this week. I looked, and I couldn't find the last time a Treasury Secretary blew off the annual IMF meeting."

She said Treasury instead sent lower-ranking officials with a mission focused on advancing American economic and national security interests.

Kokinda then argued that Bessent’s absence reflected the administration’s focus on domestic industrial expansion rather than IMF prescriptions.

"How about rebuilding the U.S. manufacturing base so that we can grow our way out of the debt."

She pointed to an October 11 White House briefing from Peter Navarro detailing manufacturing investment and job creation.

"During the final two years of the Biden regime, America lost a staggering 230,000 manufacturing jobs, but now under the Trump tariffs and tax cuts, the trend is turning sharply. Since December of 2025, American manufacturers have added 72,000 jobs. Construction employment has increased by 109,000 jobs over the last 12 months."

Navarro said the administration had also tracked hundreds of billions of dollars in announced investments.

"Here's a preliminary look at the announced factory investments since President Trump took office on January 20th, 25. The totals reveal an extraordinary industrial transformation. We got more than 380 billion dollars in announced investment, over 500 manufacturing projects across nine major sectors, more than 160,000 direct manufacturing jobs, and that's before you count the hundreds of 1000s of additional jobs these projects will generate."

He emphasized that the projects were not limited to a small number of massive factories.

"And of these more than 500 projects, 63 projects are big. They're worth at least a billion dollars each. But this is important. The median project is smaller, roughly 90 million. This manufacturing renaissance is not simply a few giant semiconductor factories making the numbers look good. It includes hundreds of smaller factories and industrial expansions spread across the country."

Kokinda said Navarro then walked through investments in automobiles, steel, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, shipbuilding, energy and strategic materials.

Navarro framed the broader policy as a reversal of decades of industrial decline.

"For decades, we the people here of America, have been told that the decline of domestic manufacturing was inevitable. What we have lacked has been a national policy willing to use those advantages to defend American manufacturing. President Trump has changed that, and the direction is clear: the concrete is being poured, the steel is going up, the machinery is being installed, and across this great country, the American worker is getting another chance to build the world's greatest industrial economy."

He also challenged major media outlets to cover the manufacturing data.

"Are you listening, Washington Post? Are you listening, New York Times? Are you listening, USA Today? Are you listening, The Today Show, CNN, MS NOW? Oh, and by the way, Fox News, which is not here today."

The IMF says America can't grow its way out of debt.

Scott Bessent skipped their Bangkok meeting for "domestic engagements": 500+ new factory projects and $380B+ in announced investment. @SJKokinda on Trump's Treasury chief calling their bluff https://t.co/QsGyd54s2W — Promethean Action (@PrometheanActn) October 14, 2026

Kokinda concluded that the Trump administration is betting on industrial growth, domestic investment and energy production rather than accepting what she described as the IMF’s traditional austerity model.

Her argument is that Europe’s dependence on Russian energy, despite sanctions, and the IMF’s warnings about U.S. debt show the limits of the older framework. In contrast, she said Trump, Bessent, and Navarro are attempting to rebuild the American industrial base and use growth itself as the foundation for stronger national finances and economic security.

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