{"id":828981,"date":"2026-08-28T19:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T19:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/828981\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T19:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T19:34:12","slug":"scott-bessent-blasts-elizabeth-warren-offers-foreign-exchange-for-dummies-tutorial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/828981\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott Bessent blasts Elizabeth Warren, offers \u2018Foreign Exchange for Dummies\u2019 tutorial"},"content":{"rendered":"

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sarcastically offered to give Sen. Elizabeth Warren a tutorial on \u201cForeign Exchange for Dummies\u201d in a blistering response to her criticism of the government\u2019s intervention to prop up the Japanese yen<\/a>, The Post has learned.<\/p>\n

The lefty Massachusetts senator\u2019s recent attack \u201cunfortunately reveals that you know even less about foreign exchange markets than you do about banking,\u201d Bessent wrote in a letter dated Thursday that was exclusively obtained by The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cTerrifyingly, the opening paragraph is wrong about where the money came [from], what the transaction was, and whether there was even a borrower,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mocked Sen. Elizabeth Warren\u2019s grasp of foreign-exchange markets in a blistering response to her questions about the US intervention in the Japanese yen. REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is equally shocking, but not surprising: not a single member of your media mob has a rudimentary-enough level of financial market literacy to spot your remedial error.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scathing letter came in response to an Aug. 13 missive from Warren demanding details about Treasury\u2019s use of the Exchange Stabilization Fund, or ESF, as Washington joined Tokyo in buying yen after the currency plunged to a 40-year low.<\/p>\n

Warren, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, argued that American taxpayers could ultimately be on the hook if Japan proves unable to repay Treasury \u2014 a premise Bessent flatly rejected.<\/p>\n

\u201cTreasury exchanged existing Exchange Stabilization Fund foreign-currency assets for yen,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo new congressional appropriation was involved, and no credit was extended to Japan. Japan owes Treasury nothing,\u201d added Bessent, who previously earned his fortune as a currency trader.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is therefore no risk that Japan will fail to repay a debt that does not exist.\u201d<\/p>\n

The recent intervention in the yen marked the first coordinated US-Japan effort to strengthen the currency since 1998.<\/p>\n

Treasury, acting through the New York Fed, sold euros and bought yen as part of the effort, according to reports. The exact size of the US purchase has not been disclosed.<\/p>\n

Warren questioned Bessent over Treasury\u2019s use of the Exchange Stabilization Fund to buy yen. Derek Storm\/ZUMA \/ SplashNews.com<\/p>\n

A Reuters photograph taken July 31 showed<\/a> a notepad in front of Bessent bearing the words: \u201cTo Do Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil.\u201d The note appeared to indicate a contemplated purchase in that range but did not establish how much Treasury ultimately bought.<\/p>\n

Warren seized on the lack of details in her Aug. 13 letter, demanding to know the scale of US financial support, its potential cost to taxpayers and Treasury\u2019s legal justification for using the ESF.<\/p>\n

Bessent responded to the legal question with another jab.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour legal question is answered by the statute cited in your own footnote,\u201d he wrote, saying Section 5302 authorizes the Treasury secretary, with presidential approval, to deal in foreign exchange in support of orderly exchange arrangements.<\/p>\n

\u201cTreasury\u2019s legal analysis begins with reading the statute. I recommend you try the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bessent also defended the intervention as protecting US economic interests, pointing to Japan\u2019s role as a major holder of US Treasuries as well as a key trading partner and treaty ally.<\/p>\n

The US joined Japan in buying yen after the currency plunged to a roughly 40-year low against the dollar. REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cDisorderly yen markets can trigger forced unwinds, which could destabilize global markets and ultimately raise borrowing costs for American families and businesses,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a fuller explanation, I recommend any entry-level course in international finance for you and your staff, or I can give you a tutorial on Foreign Exchange for Dummies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Japan spent a record $96.5 billion intervening in foreign-exchange markets between July 30 and Aug. 26, according to government data released Friday, while Treasury has not publicly disclosed the amount of its own yen purchase.<\/p>\n

The yen initially surged following the intervention before giving back much of those gains later in August.<\/p>\n

In her letter, Warren invoked Treasury\u2019s previous use of the ESF to provide $20 billion in support to Argentina, calling that intervention politically driven.<\/p>\n

Bessent fired back that the Argentina operation was designed to address \u201cacute, short-term illiquidity\u201d and prevent a broader regional crisis.<\/p>\n

The Japanese yen initially surged after Washington and Tokyo intervened to support the battered currency, before giving back much of its gains. REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best-managed crisis is the one that never happens,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou, by contrast, appear to view preventable crises not as failures to avert but as welcome opportunities to expand government control \u2014 with ordinary Americans paying the price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bessent closed the letter with one final swipe at Warren.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe American people deserve oversight grounded in facts rather than slogans,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I am not holding my breath, I hope your next letter will demonstrate that you have learned the difference between a currency purchase and a swap or a loan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senate Banking Committee spokeswoman Saloni Sharma told The Post that Warren\u2019s questions still stand \u2014 adding an accusation that Bessent has misplaced priorities.<\/p>\n

He \u201cshould focus less on his petty grievances with Senator Warren and more on reducing the cost of living for the American families struggling in President Trump\u2019s economy,\u201d Sharma said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sarcastically offered to give Sen. Elizabeth Warren a tutorial on \u201cForeign Exchange for Dummies\u201d…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":828982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[28,11733,111,4666,55932],"class_list":["post-828981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-elizabeth-warren","tag-politics","tag-scott-bessent","tag-treasury-department"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=828981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}