U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Friday exposed a “to-do” list during President Donald Trump’s cabinet meeting indicating he was contemplating U.S. purchases of $5 billion to $10 billion worth of Japanese yen, a Reuters photograph taken during the meeting held at Camp David shows.
Taken over Bessent’s shoulder during an on-the-record portion of the meeting, the Camp David notepad bears the underscored words “To Do” followed by “Buy Japanese Yen (JPY) $5-10 bil.”
The notepad shows no other words, and Bessent’s name card on the Camp David conference table is visible and positioned immediately above the notepad. The photograph was taken at 11:33 ET (1533 GMT).
A U.S. Treasury spokesperson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the contents of the notepad, or whether the Treasury had intervened to help prop up the yen’s value against the dollar on Friday.
Earlier on Friday morning, around two hours before the photo was taken, Reuters reported that the Treasury had notified a number of banks that it may intervene in the yen market on Friday, quoting a source familiar with the situation.