Staggering amount of US treasuries dumped as Trump salivates over Greenland

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

20. Central banks are buying metals. Not a good sign for the US economy.

Last edited Tue Jan 20, 2026, 11:15 PM - Edit history (1)

The gold market rise appears too be only partially fed by individual and institutional investors. It's not just folks dumping crypto. Central banks have been liquidating gold and other metal assets for years, until now.

Trump's threats to the Fed have unnerved folks across the world, and fed the BRICS dream of replacing the dollar as the world's go-to currency. One of the European Central Bank's VPs, Luis de Guindos, issued a statement of confidence in the Fed yesterday.(1) Reminds me of the losing head coach who gets a statement of full confidence from the ownership, days before getting fired. The US economy floats on a sea of debt (and the interest paid on it), underwritten by treasury securities. They've been the world's safe harbor for years. China is the largest holder of them. Much, perhaps most, of the US debt is held abroad.

Should the world abandon the dollar and another vehicle for investment replace US treasuries, the US economy is finished. Agricultural and weapons exports won't maintain our lifestyles. This is the world Trump and his finance bros have been working for, as they think they'll be immune. Trump's lowborn fascists (see the Birchers, KKK and US Nazis) have been forming conspiracy theories about the Fed since before Trump was born without thinking consequences, so that's not new. It's that lots of very wealthy finance bros seem to buy into them. Perhaps they will.

If it does happen, we lowborn folks will likely be reduced to abject poverty and servitude, assuming we can find a master to serve. It's not a sure thing yet, and it isn't going to happen overnight, but it's important to be aware of the trend. If you're interested keep your eyes on how the sales of treasuries go in 2026-7, and watch the interest rates. It's also interesting to follow the price of gold and silver every week or so.

Oh yeah, in related news, China posted a trade surplus of $1.2 trillion in 2025.(2) Hmm.

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(1) https://www.politico.eu/article/ecb-vice-president-luis-de-guindos-we-still-trust-the-fed/
(2) https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-trade-ends-2025-with-record-trillion-dollar-surplus-despite-trump-tariffs-2026-01-14/