Trump’s Treasury secretary denies conflict with president on the dollar

President Trump’s Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, denied reports of a split between himself and the chief executive during a recent CNBC appearance.

“The strong dollar policy is, are we doing the things to create a strong backdrop for the dollar?” Bessent said. His comments seem to be at odds with Trump’s repeated efforts to weaken the dollar, which experts warn could slow foreign investment in the United States and harm ordinary Americans’ standard of living. Trump has previously praised currencies like the Japanese yen and, more recently, promoted cryptocurrencies from Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s DOGE to Trump’s own self-named meme coin. On Tuesday, he told reporters about the weakening dollar that "I think it's great. Look at the business we're doing. The dollar's doing great."

Trump’s logic, as reported by The Atlantic, is that the relatively weak currencies in competing nations like China and Japan make their good cheaper in international markets. Although economists say this strategy can be somewhat effective, reporter Will Gottsegen points out that “the president’s unpredictable foreign-policy and global-trade decisions are threatening to erode America’s economic standing abroad in a far more significant way.”

Bessent also walked back an earlier remark in which he said it would be “up to the president” whether he sues his new Federal Reserve chairperson, Kevin Warsh, for not lowering interest rates to his liking. The Treasury Secretary claimed that the comment, made to Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) during a banking committee hearing, was intended to be humorous.

“I tried to explain to Senator Warren — who seems to have no sense of humor — it was a joke,” Bessent said. He later added, “The president has great respect for the Fed, for the Fed’s independence.”

Bessent's statements seem intended to reassure markets and lawmakers that the administration does not intend to interfere directly with the central bank, even as it pursues policies designed to influence the broader economic environment. He also argued that Trump's ax, trade, deregulatory and energy policies, as well as efforts to secure critical mineral supplies, are "making the US the best place for capital in the world."

He concluded, "I think no one’s done that better than President Trump."

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