WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent forecasted a strong U.S. economy in 2026 during a one-on-one interview Wednesday, but acknowledged not every American is seeing the benefits.

President Donald Trump touted what he described as an economic rebound since taking office during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.

“Our country is winning again,” Trump said. “In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it.”

Despite recent strong economic data, a disconnect appears to exist between those figures and the uncertainty the public feels about the economy. When asked why voters may not be feeling the economic gains, Bessent said the delay is understandable.

“Look, everything comes on a delay, and I don’t blame voters for being skittish,” Bessent said. “We were in a 28-car pileup in the Biden administration.”

Bessent said the economy and issues like affordability will improve in the months ahead.

“I think 2026 is going to be a great year,” Bessent said. “And affordability is two components. So we lowered inflation. And so that’s the rate of change. But also every month since the president has been in office we’ve seen real wage increases for working Americans.”

Trump is fresh off a loss at the Supreme Court regarding the legality of most of his tariffs. Bessent said that ruling could impact whether Americans receive a $2,000 tariff rebate check the President had promised.

When asked whether that rebate is now off the table entirely, Bessent said, “We believe tariff income is unchanged for the year. So we’ll see if the president wants to move forward with any of those proposals.”

Bessent also said lower courts will decide whether refunds will be issued to importers for tariffs that have already been paid. He acknowledged there could be what he called a “huge amount of refunds” for corporate America, but did not say whether consumers would receive refunds.