A shrewd move from big banks had large shipments of gold moving across the Atlantic Ocean via commercial airlines.
As President Donald Trump leveraged negotiations with tariffs and his newly-confirmed Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick teased the end of the IRS, the economic shakeup had all eyes on gold. While some wondered at a return to the gold standard that had ended under President Richard Nixon, a difference in value between London, England and New York City had banks bringing their bars to the Big Apple.
The Wall Street Journal recently reported that as gold futures were already up 11% for the year in New York, banks like JPMorgan Chase and HSBC Holdings were among those looking for an edge to withstand potential money-losing trades as gold had been averaging $20 less in London since December.
Cargo holds of commercial flights remained the most cost-effective way to transport the commodity and a “weekslong queue” was said to have formed at the Bank of England as Citigroup and others were among those considering shipments after JPMorgan had already moved roughly $4 billion worth of gold in February, according to a filing with CME Group’s Comex.
Projections saw gold futures climbing from about $2,950 to over $3,000 per ounce in the near future as, in addition to the 11% climb this year, there had been a 44% increase from the same time last year.
“The situation is very profitable in the short term for some players–the clearing banks and refiners in particular,” said Kilo Capital chief executive Wade Brennan to the Journal as the president sought ways to reduce tax burdens on the American people after decades of watching their hard-earned money misused, including potentially putting foreign countries on the hook for funding the federal government.
“His goal is to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and let all outsiders pay,” said Lutnick during an interview with Fox News host Jesse Watters while discussing tariffs. “I mean, this is someone who is focused on America. Let’s drive down our waste, foreign abuse.”
Meanwhile, as it had been years since any member of Congress had been permitted access, the president recently told reporters that a trip to Fort Knox was in store to “make sure the gold is there.”
The remark came amid the broader effort by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) toward a full audit of the federal government, including the United States Bullion Depository adjacent to the U.S. Army installation of the same name in Kentucky.
“We’re going to go into Fort Knox to make sure the gold is there…do you know about that?” Trump had told a reporter. “We hope everything is fine with Fort Knox, but we’re going to go into Fort Knox, the fabled Fort Knox, to make sure the gold is there.”
Trump does presser on plane: ‘We’re going to Fort Knox to make sure the gold is there’ https://t.co/cjmVtDNwhd via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) February 20, 2025
While Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R) was among those contending there was no routine review of the gold held there, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had argued, “We do an audit every year.”
“All the gold is present and accounted for,” he’d said while DOGE head Elon Musk had asked, “Who is confirming that gold wasn’t stolen from Fort Knox? Maybe it’s there, maybe it’s not.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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