A new 30% tariff on gold, and encouraging people to dump their 401K accounts into cryptocurrency. America’s economic madness . . .

Photo above - some people have compared the on-again, off-again tariffs to TV game shows like "Wheel of Fortune".

Raise your hand if you want to pay huge taxes on gold and put all of your retirement money into crypto. Raise your hand if you think this will mean a more secure retirement for yourself, and a better life for your kids. President Trump just raised his hand to both. He issued 2 executive orders (see links below).

I believe that it’s an inherent conflict of interest for a president who is hawking meme-coins, and personally speculating in crypto, to unilaterally change the rules on how those are regulated. Will some future president be able to suspend taxes on stock market investments in Hollywood Studios or Wall Street banks simply because they were big contributors to his election campaign?

I should be more concerned about Trump’s plan to impose a 30% tariff on “gold ingots”. I SHOULD be, except that I personally don’t any gold ingots or coins. Nobody really knows what Trumps executive order on gold means. Gold ingots come in all sizes, and from all different countries. Some analysts are hoping the 30% tariff only applies to 100-ounce gold Hershey bars sold by Switzerland. Other cross their fingers and tell themselves “Of course gold mined in the USA will be exempt”. But nobody knows for sure.

If this sticks, we can probably expect ingots to be melted down into South African Krugerrands, Canadian Gold Maple Leafs, and American Gold Eagles. Or possibly Trump-MAGA commemorative 1 ounce gold medals. Should I pay the NFT surcharge to guarantee their authenticity? They might be insanely valuable 50 years from now, right?

I’m just theorizing here. I don’t know for sure that’s what will happen to gold in the future. The tariff could be 130% tomorrow, or return to zero. This is like the TV game show “Wheel of Fortune.” I’d like to buy a vowel please, Pat . . . all of them in fact, as long as they don’t have tariffs.

I can guarantee that I WON'T be selling my 401K stocks and diving into crypto. No matter how the rules are tinkered with to boost the wealth of crypto-moguls. Although I am intrigued by the latest meme coin: “Fartcoin”. Imagine one of your kids attending the reading of your will, and finding out you left them 1 million Fartcoins, which are only worth about $10 bucks.

I’m just sayin’ . . .

What to know about Trump's push to open 401(k) to crypto and private equity

Gold Prices Hit An All-Time High As Trump’s ‘Surprise’ Tariffs Roil Market—Here’s What To Know