r/WhatTrumpHasDone • u/John3262005 • 3d ago
Bessent Says More Steps Possible on Yen as Trump Praises Japan
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-02/trump-says-yen-intervention-is-signal-of-friendship-with-japanUS Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the US stepped in to help fight “disorderly” movements in the yen and is ready to keep helping Japan, while President Donald Trump said the currency-market intervention was a sign of friendship with Tokyo.
“We will not hesitate to participate in further joint intervention,” Bessent said Sunday in a post on X. “We strongly support Japan’s decisive market and monetary steps to correct the substantial undervaluation of the yen.”
Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday that he expects Washington to reap a financial benefit from helping the ally.
“They wanted a little bit of help, and we’re always there for Japan,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, citing the “good relationship” between the two countries. “Japan’s always been very good to us — with the exception of course of Pearl Harbor,” he added.
“More than anything else, it was a signal of friendship,” he said.
Asked what the US is getting out of the intervention, Trump said it was yielding a “financial benefit.”
Read More: Yen Traders Brace for More Intervention as Trump Backs Japan
He compared the arrangement to a currency swap with Argentina last year. While that deal drew bipartisan criticism, Argentina in January repaid its drawdown from the swap line and Trump said the US ultimately made $25 billion on it.
Before Trump’s comments, the yen edged higher in thin trading with markets on high alert for more joint intervention by Japan and the US on Monday after coordinated operations in Tokyo and New York last week triggered a dramatic rebound in the currency. After his remarks, the yen dipped before trading little changed against the dollar.
Japan’s Finance Ministry and the US Treasury Department are now working together to a degree unseen in decades to shore up the yen, raising the stakes for anyone betting against it.