Hard currency of soft power: European countries repatriate gold reserves to test leverage against the U.S. in a new geoeconomic model

On June 23, 2025, it was reported that Germany and Italy sent requests to the U.S. to repatriate gold reserves from New York.

The decision by Berlin and Rome to retrieve approximately 2,250 tons of gold — over a quarter of the total U.S. gold reserves — amid the White House’s conflict with the Fed, takes on the character of a geoeconomic ultimatum, in which the physical presence of gold in the U.S. is used by European countries as leverage to influence an administration prone to isolationism.

The decision by Germany and Italy to withdraw gold bullion from the U.S. transforms their gold and currency reserves — amid the geopolitical uncertainty of the new administration — into a hard asset that becomes a tool of influence for the EU’s “soft power” representatives on Trump, who disregards allies.