The American dollar accounts for 89% of all foreign exchange transactions globally, according to a 2025 survey of central banks conducted by the Bank of International Settlements. President Trump’s volatile application of tariffs have not knocked the dollar off its towering position in global finance, but some nations with larger reserves anchored in dollars have diminished the size of those holdings.
Dimon argued a core strength of the dollar is its ability to be spent freely without any capital restrictions imposed by the U.S. government, compared to other nations. China, for example, restricts the flow of their renminbi currency to shield its economy from turbulence and better manage its exchange rate.
“When I give you $1, and we preserve the value of it, you can do whatever you want with it. You can build a company. You can buy a company. You control it,” Dimon said. “You go to other countries — you can’t do whatever you want. You need their permission to invest it or something like that.”
How a mighty US military and economy anchor the reserve currency
Dimon recounted exchanges he had with unidentified business executives in Europe and the Middle East, who told him they had recently moved their gold out of New York.
“The people said, ‘We took our gold out of the vaults in New York City… and we moved it to our country here and our country there.’ I said to him, ‘Really? Your vaults?” Dimon recalled. “I said, ‘You have three armies within 400 miles who can come take your gold.’”
Dimon was blunt in laying out his case against foreign businesses and institutions moving gold out of the U.S. Earlier this year, both France and the Netherlands announced they had repatriated their gold reserves.
“This hypothetical s— about pissing America off by ‘I don’t want to leave my gold in America’ — You’re not thinking clearly about safety,” Dimon said. “That gold is protected by the Atlantic, the Pacific, the United States military, the rule of law and so on. But if we are not the preeminent military, the preeminent economy, you will see our reserve status come down.”
‘We have to be a little careful’
Dimon also added that he believes the U.S. government has misused its power on occasion. He has previously been critical about the on-again, off-again trade wars in the second Trump administration.
“There are a lot of people who say ‘I would prefer not to conduct my business in dollars,’ and I completely [agree] — I wouldn’t either if I were them,” Dimon said. “So, we have to be a little careful how we use our power sometimes.”
Joseph Zeballos-Roig is a policy and politics journalist based in Washington D.C with a focus on economics. He is experienced in connecting the significance of events in the capital to the lives of everyday Americans whether its taxes, tariffs, interest rates or federal programs.
