Illustration: Christian Blaza
Markets Are Discovering the Real Trump Trade Is ‘Sell America’
The president’s attacks on the Fed are pushing the world further off its American axis, as governments and investors lose confidence in the US dollar and bonds.
Just a few months into Donald Trump’s second term, the pillars of American financial hegemony — erected over the best part of a century — have rarely looked shakier.
Trump’s renewed tirades against the Federal Reserve, including the most explicit threats yet to fire Chair Jerome Powell, only amplified the shockwaves from his declaration of trade war on pretty much everyone. It’s forcing a reappraisal of the assets fundamental to US economic dominance. The dollar and Treasury bonds, traditional havens at times of stress, suddenly look much less appealing. It’s not long since investors were anticipating a so-called Trump trade, essentially turbocharging US exceptionalism, but now it looks more like a sell-America trade.