As the U.S. relationship with some traditional allies fractured during the second Trump administration, ties with Tokyo have only improved. Now, after they launched a coordinated intervention to strengthen the yen, the alliance seems to explicitly include backing for the Japanese currency.
¡°This intervention was a sign of friendship,¡± U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters on Sunday. ¡°Japan has always been very good to us ¡ª with the exception of course of Pearl Harbor.¡± Raising the 1941 surprise attack seems to be his favorite Japan joke; it caused Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to squirm during a visit in the Oval Office earlier this year.
But she won¡¯t be too concerned about the optics if the U.S. delivers what she wants. The entry of the U.S. into Tokyo¡¯s attempts to strengthen the yen decidedly changes the game.
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