President Donald Trump's return to the White House is causing Germany to " sit on a nervous spot" about the fate of more than 1,000 tons of national reserve gold being held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The issue, which was once a favorite topic of the far-right and "gold addicts", has now suddenly become a serious topic of debate in German politics and mainstream media.
The German central bank (Bundesbank) currently owns the world's second largest gold warehouse at 3,352 tons, of which about a third is kept in the US - a legacy from the Cold War, when Germany wanted to keep gold in a "safe" place in case of Soviet invasion.
But the geopolitical context has changed dramatically. President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened his allies, publicly criticized the US Federal Reserve (Fed), and is now seeking to control the organization. That raises concerns that foreign gold in the US could be "used as political hostages".
puffer President Trump wants to control the Fed, which means we can control our gold as well, Michael Jaeger, vice president of the German Taxpayers Confederation, said in a letter asking the German government to bring gold back to the country.
Another figure, November 15, Lawmaker Markus Ferber of the ruling CDU, frankly said: The US is no longer the reliable partner it used to be. President Trump is infamous, it is not ruled out that he will think of new tricks with this gold.
German TV stations have also broadcast programs and asked, "Is German gold safe in New York?" Meanwhile, the Bundesbank reassured that it still has confidence in the New York Fed, is maintaining regular inspections and has inspected about 13% of the gold held there.
However, the warning sign is not new. From 2014-2017, Germany secretly repatriated 300 tons of gold from New York to Frankfurt to increase domestic confidence. At that time, the move was seen as a "conspiracy" initiated by far-right lawmaker Peter Boehringer. Now, he said: I was called a hoangance before. But now the whole of Germany is sharing that concern.
Another sensitive issue is: if Germany publicly transfers gold from the US, it could be understood as losing confidence in the Fed - the central institution of the global financial system.
However, political fluctuations under President Donald Trump, combined with the conflict in Ukraine and the risk of increasing the influence of Russia, as well as the continuous increase in world gold prices, are forcing Germany to reconsider its gold reserve strategy.
Currently, Germany's gold is held in three places: Frankfurt, New York and the Bank of England in London. But many experts say that this is still too little propagation point.
You should not put all your eggs in a few baskets, Mr. Ferber warned, leaving open the possibility of diversifying gold storage locations in the future, even though no specific countries have been mentioned.
