The dollar’s drop has also been fanned by Trump’s unpredictable policymaking. — Bloomberg
NEW YORK: The dollar has slumped to its lowest since early 2022 after President Donald Trump indicated he’s comfortable with its recent decline.
“No, I think it’s great,” Trump told reporters in Iowa when asked if he was worried about the currency’s drop.
“I think the value of the dollar – look at the business we’re doing. The dollar’s doing great.”
Trump’s comments added fuel to what was already the dollar’s deepest drop since his tariff rollout sent markets into a tailspin last year, fanning fears that his erratic policy shifts would drive overseas investors to pull back from the United States.
After his comments, the Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index extended losses to as much as 1.2%, as the US currency weakened against all of its major counterparts before steadying somewhat in Asia trading yesterday.
The president has long accused other countries of seeking weaker exchange rates to boost exports and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has highlighted the distinction between the dollar’s price and its value as a reserve currency.
So these latest comments were seen as giving a green-light to traders to sell the US currency.
“Many in the Trump Cabinet want a weaker dollar in order to make exports more competitive,” said Win Thin, chief economist at Bank of Nassau.
They’re “taking a calculated risk. A weaker currency can be nice until things get disorderly.”
Some of the decline in the dollar had been caused by the abrupt rebound in the yen since last week, as traders braced for a potential intervention by Japanese officials to prop up that nation’s currency.
But the dollar’s drop has also been fanned by Trump’s unpredictable policymaking, which has rattled overseas allies and investors: His threats to take over Greenland; his pressure on the US Federal Reserve (Fed); tax cuts that deepened the deficit; and a leadership style that’s deepened US political polarisation.
The dollar’s recent drop has come despite a rise in government bond yields and expectations that the Fed was poised to pause its interest-rate cuts at yesterday’s meeting – both of which would traditionally have been seen as supportive of the currency.
Indeed, Trump has been vocal in his desire that rates should be much lower, something which would further weigh on the dollar.
That has helped push investors into rival stores of value like gold, sending it to record highs, in what’s becoming known as the debasement trade.
They are also pouring cash into assets like emerging-market funds at a record pace as momentum builds for a rotation out of US holdings more broadly, a move some have called a “quiet-quitting”.
“Today’s move in the dollar may look overdone considering rate differentials remain in its favour against many peers.
“But, President Trump’s remarks underscore the lingering risks that will continue to batter the currency and encourage investors to seek cover elsewhere,” said Bloomberg macro strategist Tatiana Darie.
For years Trump has held competing views on the dollar.
He has touted the greenback’s strength as a way to preserve an edge in bilateral negotiations while also talking up the benefits of a weak greenback for the manufacturing sector.
“I’m the person that likes a strong dollar, but a weak dollar makes you a hell of a lot more money,” he said last year.
Since his inauguration, Bloomberg’s gauge of the US currency has tumbled close to 10% and traders are wagering on further losses.
The premium for short-dated options that profit from a weaker US currency reached the highest since Bloomberg began compiling the data in 2011.
Bullish expectations for other currencies have also reached multi-month highs, near or on a par with levels seen in the aftermath of the April tariff rollout.
Trading volumes have been heavy.
On Monday, turnover through the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp hit the second-highest on record, surpassed only by April 3, 2025.
On Tuesday, Trump suggested he could manipulate the strength of the dollar, saying “I could have it go up or go down like a yo-yo”.
But he cast that as an unfavourable outcome, likening it to hiring unneeded workers to juice employment numbers and criticised Asian economies he said tried to devalue their currencies.
“If you look at China and Japan, I used to fight like hell with them, because they always wanted to devalue their yen.
“You know that?
“The yen and the yuan, and they’d always want to devalue it. They devalue, devalue, devalue,” Trump said.
“And I said, not fair that you devalue, because it’s hard to compete when they devalue.
“But they always fought, no our dollar’s great,” he added. — Bloomberg
