The US treasury department demanded on Friday that the Financial Times (FT) retract a report on treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s views on the Federal Reserve, accusing the newspaper of publishing “false claims” in a formal complaint escalated to the outlet’s parent company, Nikkei Inc. The email from treasury officials, addressed to senior editors at the FT and Nikkei, disputed multiple claims in the story and criticized the headline as misrepresenting the underlying reporting. Treasury officials denied that Bessent had endorsed such views or discussed adopting similar practices in Washington. The complaint marked the latest effort by treasury officials to discredit the FT report. The FT is not a member of Ipso and it was not immediately clear whether treasury officials would pursue additional efforts against the newspaper.

Source: The Guardian March 28, 2026 19:27 UTC