Business & Economics
Bessent’s ‘Strong Dollar’ Declaration Snaps Four-Year USD Slide
On 28 Jan 2026, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent publicly reaffirmed Washington’s “strong dollar” doctrine and denied any covert yen support, triggering a rapid 0.5 % rebound in the dollar index only a day after it touched its weakest level since 2022.
Focusing Facts
- Dollar Index (DXY/WSJ) bounced from a 4-year trough of 95.86 on Jan 27 to 96.39 within hours of Bessent’s CNBC interview.
- In the same interview Bessent said the U.S. was “absolutely not” intervening and insisted ‘strong dollar policy’ remains official stance.
- President Trump’s Jan 27 comment that the dollar’s drop was “great” had accelerated the sell-off that sliced nearly 2 % off the greenback year-to-date.
Context
Washington’s verbal intervention echoes Robert Rubin’s 1995 revival of the ‘strong dollar’ mantra after the post-Plaza Accord drift; words, not wires, steadied the currency then and appear to again. Structurally, the episode highlights a decade-long tension between the U.S. executive’s mercantilist impulses and the Treasury-Fed tradition of defending dollar primacy. On a 100-year arc, such clarifications matter because reserve-currency status hinges as much on perceived policy coherence as on relative growth. Each wobble—today’s 4-year low, the 2013 ‘taper tantrum,’ the 1978 dollar rescue—invites rivals to diversify (gold above $5,300, crypto debates, EM debt flows), yet the swift rally shows incumbency power still responds to a few well-timed sentences. Whether verbal support can offset persistent deficits, politicised Fed appointments, and carry-trade unwinds will shape the dollar’s longevity far beyond this week’s bounce.
Perspectives
Mainstream U.S. business press
e.g., The Wall Street Journal, Reuters-syndicated outlets — Treat Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s remarks as a credible reaffirmation of the long-standing “strong dollar” doctrine and portray the mid-week greenback bounce as evidence the policy can still steady the currency, even if rallies may prove short-lived. By largely accepting official assurances at face value, this coverage risks underplaying the administration’s mixed signals and may reflect an institutional incentive to preserve access to policymakers and Wall Street sources.
Crypto-focused media
e.g., CryptoSlate — Frames the dollar’s multi-year lows inside a broader ‘risk-on’ environment, arguing that sustained weakness combined with bullish equity sentiment could be the catalyst for Bitcoin’s next leg higher if HSBC’s regime call proves correct. Coverage is motivated to link virtually any macro development to a pro-Bitcoin thesis, so it downplays evidence that BTC’s correlation to the dollar is currently negligible and glosses over negative ETF flow data that undermine the bullish narrative.
Forex trading commentary & regional business outlets
e.g., ActionForex, BusinessWorld — Cast the greenback’s slide as part of a deliberate White House strategy to cheapen the currency, warning that this ‘Sell America’ stance is fuelling capital flights into gold and other currencies while eroding confidence in U.S. policy stability. These venues cater to short-term traders and often amplify dramatic interpretations—asserting intent where evidence is circumstantial—to spur trading activity and readership, which can exaggerate the likelihood of an orchestrated devaluation.