The hard truth is that Trump cannot repeal federal minimum wage laws, nor can he recreate the conditions that make foreign manufacturing cheap. His tariff-based nationalism may appeal emotionally, but economically, it constrains market access and raises prices for everyone. As a result, the U.S. dollar is being debased — not through monetary printing alone, but through politicization. When a currency becomes an instrument of ideology rather than efficiency, gold and other hard assets begin to outperform.