During a cabinet meeting at Camp David on Friday, the US treasury secretary Scott Bessent carelessly revealed plans for the US to buy $5bn-$10bn \u2060in Japanese yen in a scribbled \u201cto do\u201d list left visible to a Reuters photographer.<\/p>\n
The image, taken over Bessent\u2019s shoulder during a portion of the meeting open to journalists, showed a Camp David notepad with the underscored words \u201cTo Do\u201d followed by \u201cBuy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil\u201d.<\/p>\n
Bessent\u2019s name card on the Camp David conference table is visible and \u200bpositioned immediately above the notepad.<\/p>\n
The \u200cphotograph was taken at \u200c11.33am local time, Reuters reported. Video of the televised portion of the cabinet meeting showed that the notepad was still clearly visible<\/a> in front of Bessent when he spoke, to praise the president, 30 minutes later.<\/p>\n A treasury spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request \u200cfor comment on the contents of the notepad, \u201cor whether the treasury had intervened to help prop up the yen\u2019s value against the dollar on Friday\u201d, the news agency said.<\/p>\n The Financial Times reported<\/a> later that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York sold euros to buy yen<\/a> on behalf of the US treasury department.<\/p>\n