Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Criticizes Journalist Over Federal Reserve Report

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly criticized Nick Timiraos, the chief economics correspondent at the Wall Street Journal, for a report discussing Bessent's efforts to involve the Federal Reserve in supporting Japan's currency. In a post, Bessent described Timiraos as a 'stenographer posing as a journalist' for reporting what he termed 'Fed backroom gossip.' The report detailed Bessent's request for the Fed to expand a lending program to assist Japan amid concerns about the Yen's decline. Bessent's comments may have been prompted by Timiraos's suggestion that the Trump administration's actions could be seen as encroaching on the Fed's independence. The Treasury Department did not provide a comment regarding the situation.