Since World War II, holding gold in the US has always been considered obvious, an absolute guarantee for national assets. But now, as world politics become uncertain, questions about the safety of this gold warehouse have once again arisen internally in Germany, according to Politico.
US President Donald Trump - who has just returned to the White House - has repeatedly shocked with "America First" policies. The current US administration is not necessarily friendly to Germany: President Donald Trump is seeking to weaken the country's key industry, while Vice President J.D Vance publicly criticized Germany for "cseding".
Not to mention, billionaire Elon Musk - a person who has a great influence in the Trump administration - recently expressed doubts about the US gold reserve and called for an inspection. This has further raised concerns among many in Germany that their gold may no longer be as untouchable as before.
According to Bild, Congressman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Marco Wanderwitz called for an inspection of the US gold vault. It is not until now that he has done so - in 2012, he once proposed to directly check this gold figure but was rejected.
European Parliament member Markus Ferber (CDU) also agreed with the proposal to re- inventory gold reserves in the US. He emphasized: "The official representatives of the German Central Bank (Bundesbank) must personally inspect each bar of gold and record the results".
More than a decade ago, a campaign led by right-wing druggists forced the Bundesbank to repatriate all of its gold deposits at the French Central Bank. At that time, the reason given was that Germany and France both used the euro, so there was no need to reserve foreign currency in Paris. But gold in the US has remained the same until now.
Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel tried to extinguish the concern, asserting: "We have a reliable and trustworthy partner, the New York Federal Reserve."
However, not everyone is convinced. More than half of Germany's gold is now repatriated and held in Frankfurt, but 37% is still in the US, with 13% in the Bank of England. In the context of increasingly fluctuating geopolitics, world gold prices are constantly hitting one another, it is unclear whether the Bundesbank will be patient enough to maintain the status quo.
Germany has the world's second largest gold reserves and holds 37% of them - about 1,236 tonnes, worth 113 billion euros - in the New York Federal Reserve's mines. This amount of gold ensures that, if necessary, the Bundesbank can convert them into USD (or any other strong currency).
