Trump Speaks Out! U.S. and Japanese Treasuries Confirm First Joint Yen Support in 15 Years

U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday (August 2) that the United States participated in last week’s foreign exchange market intervention to raise the yen exchange rate, describing it as a demonstration of U.S.-Japan friendship and helpful to the global economy.

"They needed some help, and our country has always stepped in to assist Japan," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. He referenced the strong U.S.-Japan alliance and added, "Japan has always been very good to us — of course, except for Pearl Harbor."

On Thursday and Friday last week, the yen exchange rate sharply spiked multiple times from near its lowest level since 1986, sparking widespread market speculation that the Japanese government had again intervened in the currency market.

Data from the Bank of Japan indicates that authorities may have sold as much as $58.97 billion on Thursday last week to support the yen, and there were indications of another intervention on Friday.

Early Monday morning Taiwan time, shortly after Trump made his remarks, the U.S. and Japanese treasuries simultaneously confirmed the joint intervention. This is the first such coordinated action by the two countries in 15 years, aimed at supporting the battered yen.

Japan’s Ministry of Finance stated, "On July 31, the Ministry of Finance bought yen using dollars." It added, "Japan and the United States coordinated to purchase yen, and we will carry out further joint interventions without hesitation."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Treasury Department maintains close communication with Japan’s Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan, stating they would “not hesitate” to conduct more joint yen-buying interventions.

Over the past 30 years, joint U.S.-Japan currency interventions have occurred only twice. In 1998 during the Asian financial crisis, the U.S. and Japan coordinated to buy yen. In 2011, after the Tohoku earthquake triggered an abnormal appreciation of the yen, the U.S. and six other Western nations joined Japan in coordinated intervention.

The unprecedented scale of cooperation between Japan’s Ministry of Finance and the U.S. Treasury to support the yen exchange rate has significantly raised the risks for market participants holding short yen positions.

Japan has been striving to curb the yen’s persistent decline. The yen’s depreciation not only pushes up import prices, exacerbating overall inflation and increasing the economic burden on ordinary households, but also drags down Prime Minister Sanae Takagi’s approval ratings.