The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that the Trump administration's Treasury Department has been increasingly active in trying to manipulate global markets to reduce the cost of living in the United States. A New York Times dispatch to The Globe reports that the U.S. gross national debt surpassed $40-trillion (U.S.) on Wednesday, mainly due to increasing interest payments to debt investors. This week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the doubling of the Treasury Department's buyback allowance for government debt to calm the jittery bond market and contain rising long-term bond yields. He said, "Part of this is signalling and to show that we believe that yields don't reflect the underlying fundamentals." Explaining that he is willing to expand the buyback program, he argued investors are misreading the market. He said, "We are trying to keep the market in equilibrium." Yields reached their highest levels since 2007 on Tuesday but dipped after Mr. Bessent's comments on Wednesday. By Thursday, they rose again, highlighting the challenges of interventions amid ongoing investor concerns. Former Treasury Department undersecretary Nellie Liang says the Whitehouse sees these higher rates as a problem.