U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent endorsed using Washington’s financial power to advance the interests of American allies and pursue foreign-policy goals abroad. Speaking at the SMU Cox School of Business on Tuesday, he cited Argentina as an early example, saying he believed Argentine President Javier Milei’s government had sound policies. Last year, the U.S. provided Argentina with a multibillion-dollar support package to stabilize its currency and bolster Milei ahead of midterm elections. Bessent’s remarks openly acknowledged the Trump administration’s willingness to use U.S. financial resources to influence foreign politics and economies. The administration has also sought to sway political contests elsewhere in Latin America, expand U.S. regional influence, use tariffs as a foreign-policy instrument and conduct military operations that rights advocates describe as imperial and extrajudicial. Trump presents those actions as efforts to advance U.S. interests and counter drug trafficking and illegal immigration. Bessent also discussed the U.S. decision to join Japan in a rare joint yen-buying intervention on July 31, intended to prevent losses in the yen and Japanese government bonds from spreading into global markets.