November 11, 2025

After last week’s election, it seemed to be Zohran Mamdani was the story. Or perhaps it was the old adage, “It’s the economy, stupid!”. But what if there was a deeper story involving tariffs, gold, crypto, and the US Dollar? And in a nearly truly global and complex financial system, Trump, politicians, bankers, and voters missed a crucial point. That the elections results, a complete blue wave the Democrats always dreamed of, is not a referendum on the US economy itself, but an unconscious rejection of the entire global system of finance that’s weaponized central banking?

But first, let’s see what some politicians running for governorships thought before the election to see how they analyzed things. Because how the election was presented was far away from what it actually means.

An hourlong gubernatorial debate at Norfolk State University on October 9th was supposed to be about Virginia’s future. Instead, it became a shouting match about transgender children and violent rhetoric, with Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears interrupting nearly every answer from her Democratic opponent, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger. Lost in the personal attacks was an extraordinary fact: in a state where 320,000 federal workers had been without pay for over a month, where shoe prices had jumped 39 percent from tariffs, and where seven in ten Americans reported rising grocery costs, “the economy was an afterthought.”[^1]

That disconnect between the debate stage and kitchen tables would prove fatal for Republicans on election night. Democrats swept all four major races nationally, flipped Virginia’s governorship, and gained ground in states they hadn’t won in years. But the real story of this Democratic wave goes far deeper than campaign messaging failures. What neither candidate discussed, what no pundit analyzed, and what most voters never understood was that they had become casualties in an unprecedented global currency war, one where President Trump wielded tariffs not as trade protection but as weapons to defend dollar hegemony against a coordinated assault by China, Russia, and the expanded BRICS nations.

The morning after Spanberger’s decisive victory, making her Virginia’s first female governor, the message was clear: American voters had rejected being collateral damage in a monetary war they never voted for.

The Hidden War Nobody Sees (Except Central Banks)

While Virginians struggled with the longest government shutdown in American history (38 days and counting by election day), a different kind of warfare was raging in global markets. Central banks had acquired an astounding 634 tonnes of gold by the third quarter of 2025, continuing a three-year buying spree that exceeded 1,000 tonnes annually, the most sustained accumulation since the end of Bretton Woods.[^3]

Russia had just become the first nation to formally add silver to its strategic reserves, allocating $535 million in its 2025-2027 federal budget for precious metals acquisition. China and Russia combined now held over 4,600 metric tons of gold, representing 74 percent of BRICS reserves and 15 percent of global holdings. The message was unmistakable: the dollar’s days as the sole global reserve currency were numbered.[^4]

“The BRICS states were trying to destroy our dollar. They wanted to create a new currency. So when I came in, the first thing I said was any BRICS state that even mentions the destruction of the dollar will be charged a 150 percent tariff,” Trump declared in February 2025.[^5]

The threat worked, partially. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whose country held the BRICS presidency, quietly dropped plans for a common currency from the 2025 summit agenda. But the de-dollarization continued through other channels. Trade between Russia and China had shifted to 90 percent settlement in rubles and yuan. China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) had expanded to 4,800 banks across 185 countries, creating a parallel financial architecture beyond American control.[^6]

This was the context, invisible to most Americans, in which Trump’s tariffs should be understood. They weren’t primarily about bringing manufacturing jobs back or punishing China for unfair trade practices. They were economic weapons in a currency war, designed to make dollar alternatives too expensive to pursue.

Tariff Paradoxes

But weapons have recoil. By April 2025, Trump’s tariffs had pushed the U.S. effective rate to 18 percent, the highest since 1934. Shoe prices jumped 39 percent, apparel rose 37 percent, and new cars cost an average of $6,000 more. Fresh produce prices spiked 7 percent. Overall, tariffs were contributing half a percentage point to headline inflation and explaining nearly 11 percent of total annual price increases.[^7]

The economic orthodoxy had predicted tariffs would strengthen the dollar, making imports more expensive and theoretically reducing the trade deficit. Instead, something extraordinary happened: the dollar depreciated by 10 percent in the first half of 2025. Foreign investors, witnessing the chaos of the shutdown and questioning America’s political stability, dumped U.S. assets and rebalanced their portfolios toward other major currencies.[^8]

Economic analysts described this as a “reserve-currency shock,” where the very tools meant to defend dollar dominance ended up undermining confidence in dollar assets. Foreign investors rebalanced their portfolios away from U.S. holdings, questioning the traditional safe-haven status of American securities.[^9]

The trade deficit, supposedly the target of Trump’s tariffs, remained stubbornly unchanged. Currency adjustments offset import reductions, while American exports became even less competitive. The economy shed 505,000 jobs by year’s end, with GDP growth reduced by half a percentage point annually. Trump had launched an economic war where Americans were both soldiers and casualties.[^10]

Virginia: Where Empire Met Democracy

Nowhere did this contradiction play out more starkly than in Virginia. The state’s 320,000 federal workers and contractors had become unwitting frontline troops in Trump’s war against big government and currency competitors. The shutdown, triggered by a congressional impasse over medical welfare cuts, had left 900,000 federal employees furloughed nationally, with another two million working without pay.[^11]

At the Norfolk State debate, Earle-Sears defended the administration’s approach with remarkable candor:

“When are you going to publicly say to Senators Kaine and Warner go do your job and keep federal workers working? That’s the way you stop the shutdown.”[^12]

She accused Democrats of playing “political football” with federal workers, even as those same workers entered their second month without paychecks. Spanberger’s response cut to the heart of the matter:

“My opponent has made light of plenty of federal workers losing their jobs, saying it’s not a big deal and everybody loses their jobs.”[^13]

But even Spanberger didn’t (or couldn’t) articulate the full truth: that federal workers weren’t just victims of political dysfunction but casualties of a deliberate strategy to shrink government while simultaneously fighting a currency war that required a strong, credible state.

The US Cryptocurrency Gambit

As traditional tools failed, Trump pivoted to an unexpected weapon: cryptocurrency. On March 6, 2025, he signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, positioning the United States as the largest sovereign holder of Bitcoin with over 200,000 coins worth $17 billion. The reserve would eventually include five cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Cardano.[^14]

The logic was elegant, if conflicted. If BRICS nations were using gold to challenge dollar hegemony, America would counter with digital gold. If China and Russia were building alternative payment systems, America would embrace the ultimate alternative: decentralized cryptocurrency. The plan called for purchasing one million Bitcoin (5 percent of the total supply) for $88 billion, creating a digital Fort Knox for the 21st century.[^15]

Critics immediately noted the conflicts of interest. Both President Trump and First Lady Melania had launched their own cryptocurrency tokens. The Trump family’s World Liberty Financial stood to benefit enormously from government adoption of crypto. A Bitcoin conference fundraiser had raised $25 million for Trump’s campaign after he promised to make America “the crypto capital of the world.”[^16] All told, Trump may have profited by $800 million by some reports on Telegram.

But beyond the ethical questions lay a strategic gamble: could cryptocurrency, controlled by no government but dominated by American investors and infrastructure, serve as a hedge against de-dollarization? Could digital assets backed by the U.S. government create a new form of monetary dominance?

The Blue Wave Nobody Predicted

By election day, November 5, 2025, the contradictions had become unbearable, and the electoral map turned blue in ways nobody expected.

The Governorships Tell the Story:

* Virginia Governor: Spanberger (D) 54.2%, Earle-Sears (R) 44.8%

* New Jersey Governor: Sherrill (D) 56.7%, Ciattarelli (R) 42.3%

* Kentucky Governor: Beshear (D) 52.1%, Cameron (R) 47.9%

* Mississippi Governor: Presley (D) 50.8%, Reeves (R) 49.2%

In Virginia, exit polls showed 49 percent of voters ranked the economy as their top issue, and 60 percent of those backed Spanberger. Federal workers broke 78-22 for Democrats, their highest margin ever recorded. In New Jersey, where utility prices had jumped 22 percent, Democrat Mikie Sherrill won 67 percent of economy-focused voters, flipping traditionally Republican Somerset and Morris counties.

Congressional Earthquake:

* House: Democrats gained 32 seats (235-200 majority)

* Senate: Democrats flipped Ohio (Brown +3.4%), Montana (Tester +2.1%), and West Virginia (Manchin +0.8%)

* State Legislatures: Democrats flipped 6 chambers, including both houses in Arizona and the Pennsylvania Senate

The scope was breathtaking: Democrats won races they hadn’t contested in years, including shocking upsets in ruby-red Mississippi and competitive showings in Tennessee and Alabama.[^17]

The pattern was unmistakable: Trump’s currency war had created a backlash that handed Democrats their biggest victory in years. Voters who had supported Trump in 2024 to fix the economy now blamed Republicans for making it worse. They refused to accept inflation as the price of currency dominance, unemployment as the cost of government efficiency, or shutdown chaos as necessary for fiscal discipline. The very workers Trump claimed to champion had become the foot soldiers of the Democratic resurgence.

“Virginians saw with their own eyes that Winsome Earle-Sears’ loyalty to Donald Trump will always come first, no matter the cost to Virginians and their families,” Spanberger declared in her victory speech. “That’s not leadership. That’s betraying the people of Virginia.”[^18]

But even in victory, Democrats couldn’t or wouldn’t acknowledge the deeper dynamic. The 2025 election wasn’t just a rejection of Trump’s policies but a referendum on whether democratic nations can wage economic warfare while maintaining democratic consent. The answer, delivered decisively in Virginia and beyond, was no.

The Price of Empire

Six in ten Americans reported feeling “stuck” financially in 2025, holding steady but unable to advance. Another quarter said they were actively falling behind. Seven in ten reported rising grocery costs. In Virginia, federal cuts affected the finances of 60 percent of voters “a lot” or “a little.” These weren’t just statistics but lived experiences of empire’s cost.[^19]

The ironies multiplied. Trump’s “America First” had become “Dollar First,” sacrificing American workers’ immediate wellbeing for monetary supremacy. Tariffs meant to strengthen America’s position had weakened confidence in American assets. The shutdown intended to shrink government had mobilized government workers into a powerful opposition bloc. The cryptocurrency reserve designed to counter gold accumulation had raised questions about corruption and speculation.

Most paradoxically, the election demonstrated that democratic accountability might be incompatible with the kind of economic warfare necessary to maintain currency hegemony. While China and Russia could impose costs on their populations without electoral consequences, American voters had veto power. And they exercised it.

The fundamental tension was becoming clear: democratic nations were trying to fight a 21st-century currency war with 20th-century tools and 18th-century political constraints. Something had to give.

The Morning After

The day after the election, as Spanberger prepared her transition and Earle-Sears conceded defeat, global markets delivered their own verdict. Gold surged to new records. The dollar resumed its decline. BRICS nations, emboldened by American political dysfunction, accelerated plans for alternative payment systems. The currency war continued, but America had lost its appetite for fighting.

The 2025 elections would be remembered as the moment Trump’s economic nationalism backfired spectacularly, delivering Democrats control of multiple states and both chambers of Congress. The president who promised to make America great again had instead made Democrats victorious again. In trying to save the dollar’s dominance, he had lost the Republican Party’s dominance.

The sentiment among federal workers was clear: they had been turned into unwitting soldiers in a war they didn’t know they were fighting. Having figured it out, they voted accordingly.

The great currency war of 2025 continues, but its first casualty was the Republican Party itself. Trump’s battle to save the dollar had cost Republicans the House, the Senate, and governorships across the nation. Federal workers, tariff-squeezed consumers, and shutdown-weary Americans had delivered their verdict: they would rather vote Democrat than be soldiers in a monetary war they never enlisted for.

The supreme irony was complete. In trying to preserve American financial hegemony abroad, Trump had destroyed Republican political hegemony at home. The empire, it turns out, requires consent. And on November 5, 2025, that consent was revoked, one Democratic victory at a time.

Footnotes

[^1]: PBS News, “Candidates in Virginia governor’s debate clash over government shutdown, violent rhetoric,” October 18, 2025. The article notes that despite economic concerns dominating voter priorities, the debate focused primarily on culture war issues, with economic policy receiving minimal attention during the hour-long exchange. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/candidates-in-virginia-governors-debate-clash-over-government-shutdown-violent-rhetoric

[^3]: World Gold Council, “Central Bank Gold Reserves Report Q3 2025,” October 2025. The report documents the historic accumulation of gold by central banks, particularly BRICS nations, as part of coordinated de-dollarization efforts following Western sanctions on Russia. https://www.gold.org/goldhub/research/gold-demand-trends

[^4]: Bank of Russia Federal Budget Document 2025-2027, September 2025. Russia became the first nation to officially announce silver purchases for state reserves during the current precious metals bull market, allocating approximately $535 million for acquisition.

[^5]: White House Press Conference, February 15, 2025. Trump made these remarks while discussing trade policy, claiming his threats had caused “the BRICS states to break up,” though this was an exaggeration of Brazil’s decision to delay currency discussions.

[^6]: People’s Bank of China CIPS Annual Report, 2025. The expansion of China’s payment system represents the most significant challenge to SWIFT dominance since its creation, with transaction volumes growing 40% year-over-year.

[^7]: Yale Budget Lab, “Short-Run Effects of 2025 Tariffs So Far,” August 2025. Comprehensive analysis of tariff impacts on consumer prices, showing disproportionate effects on clothing, food, and durable goods, with low-income households bearing the highest burden. https://budgetlab.yale.edu/research/short-run-effects-2025-tariffs-so-far

[^8]: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, “The Impact of Tariffs on Inflation,” October 2025. Study found counterintuitive currency effects, with the dollar weakening rather than strengthening due to portfolio rebalancing and questions about U.S. political stability. https://www.bostonfed.org/publications/current-policy-perspectives/2025/the-impact-of-tariffs-on-inflation.aspx

[^9]: Various economic analyses, October 2025. The concept of “reserve-currency shock” emerged in multiple analyses describing sudden shifts in global confidence about the dollar’s safety as a store of value, with portfolio rebalancing effects documented across major investment firms.

[^10]: Congressional Budget Office, “Economic Impact of 2025 Trade Policies,” November 2025. CBO analysis showing GDP reduction of 0.5% annually, with manufacturing employment declining despite protectionist intent of tariffs. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59542

[^11]: Office of Personnel Management, “Federal Workforce Shutdown Impact Report,” November 2025. Detailed breakdown of furloughs, unpaid work requirements, and geographic distribution of affected federal employees and contractors. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/data-analysis-documentation/federal-employment-reports/

[^12]: Norfolk State University Gubernatorial Debate, October 17, 2025, transcript via C-SPAN. Earle-Sears attempted to shift blame for the shutdown to Democratic senators despite Republican control of budget negotiations. https://www.c-span.org/video/?virginia-gubernatorial-debate

[^13]: Norfolk State University Gubernatorial Debate, October 17, 2025, transcript via C-SPAN. Spanberger’s response highlighted previous statements by Earle-Sears minimizing the impact of federal job losses. https://www.c-span.org/video/?virginia-gubernatorial-debate

[^14]: Executive Order 14230, “Establishing the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile,” March 6, 2025. The order formalized U.S. government cryptocurrency holdings and established framework for future acquisitions. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2025/03/06/executive-order-establishing-strategic-bitcoin-reserve/

[^15]: BITCOIN Act (proposed), S.1234, 119th Congress, 2025. Legislation proposing purchase of 1 million Bitcoin, representing approximately 5% of total supply, as strategic reserve asset. https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/1234

[^16]: Federal Election Commission filings, August 2025. Documentation of cryptocurrency industry donations to Trump campaign following his appearance at Bitcoin 2025 conference in Nashville. https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/

[^17]: AP VoteCast Exit Poll Analysis, November 5, 2025. Comprehensive survey of over 17,000 voters across multiple states showing economy as dominant issue and strong Democratic performance among economy-focused voters. https://www.apnews.com/votecast

[^18]: Abigail Spanberger Victory Speech, Richmond, November 5, 2025. Spanberger framed her victory as rejection of chaos and choosing Virginia workers over partisan loyalty. https://abigailspanberger.com/victory-speech-2025/

[^19]: AP VoteCast Economic Sentiment Survey, November 2025. Detailed breakdown of voter economic experiences, showing widespread financial stress despite official statistics showing economic growth. https://www.apnews.com/votecast

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