Gold Hits $5,000 Amid Trump-Era Turmoil

By Staff, Agencies

Gold surged past US$5,000 an ounce for the first time as investors flocked to the safe haven amid US President Donald Trump’s turbulent policies and statements.

The price of the yellow metal jumped 1.8% to $5,078 an ounce on Monday, according to Bloomberg.

The historic moment came as Trump threatened Canada with 100% tariffs if America’s northern neighbor “makes a deal with China”, and after the US president’s dramatic showdown with Europe over the future of Greenland.

With global financial markets already jittery, there are also rising fears of another US shutdown after Democrats threatened funding for the Department of Homeland Security in the wake of the weekend shooting of a man in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents.

Monday’s milestone is the latest in an extraordinary and historic run for gold that has seen its price jump by nearly 90% since Trump’s inauguration a little over a year ago.

Steve Miller, an investment strategy adviser at GSFM, an Australia-based asset manager, said he hadn’t seen anything like it in 40 years, noting, “The second oil shock and the inflation scare…would be the last time I remember when gold did this,” as fears grew that Trump could weaken the US dollar.

Monday’s surge came after reports the US Federal Reserve checked the dollar–yen rate. “If the Federal Reserve is doing this…they think the US dollar is too high,” Miller said.

US officials have long eyed a weaker dollar to boost domestic manufacturing, a move that threatens treasury bonds and strengthens gold’s appeal as a safe haven, with some warning that runaway debt could trigger a broader crisis if confidence in the dollar collapses.

Miller was skeptical that a full-blown crisis would hit but said gold would stay in demand as a safe, diversifying asset. “I think it could well have some further upside,” he said, “but just as good is it might insulate you from turmoil in other asset classes.”