Trump Takes a Stand: No Federal Digital Money on His Watch

Donald Trump, who won a landslide victory in the Iowa caucus, the first primary of the Republican presidential candidate, has publicly vowed not to allow the Federal Reserve (Fed), the central bank of the United States, to issue Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

According to Bloomberg News on the 17th (local time), Trump said at a campaign event in New Hampshire, “As your president, I will never allow the central bank to issue CBDC. This currency will give a federal government, our federal government, the absolute control over your money.”

Trump continued, “They (the government) could take your money, and you wouldn’t even know it was gone. This would be a dangerous threat to freedom,” he emphasized.

The issuance of CBDC by the Fed is one of the significant issues in U.S. politics. Conservatives are concerned that the central bank could monitor individuals’ spending through CBDC and ban the sale of specific products.

Florida Governor DeSantis and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who ranked second and fourth in the Iowa vote, are also pessimistic about the Fed’s CBDC issuance.

On the other hand, CBDC advocates argue that digital transactions can speed up and easily detect counterfeit money and money laundering.

So far, the Fed has been discussing the introduction of government-issued CBDC. However, senior officials, including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell, have stated that the central bank would not move forward with a digital dollar without approval from Congress.

This pledge from Trump to New Hampshire voters came out two days after his landslide victory in the Iowa caucus.

Meanwhile, a primary will be held in New Hampshire on the 23rd, and primaries will follow next month in Nevada, the Virgin Islands, South Carolina, and Michigan.

The total number of Republican delegates is 2,429, and if a candidate reaches above the “magic number” of 1,215, they can grab the ticket to the presidential election.

After Super Tuesday (March 5), when primaries are held simultaneously in 16 states, the cumulative number of delegates who have decided their favorite candidate will be 1,151. Then, primaries will be held in Georgia, Hawaii, Mississippi, and Washington on March 12, and Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, and Ohio on March 19.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) predicts that if former President Trump continues his momentum in Iowa, he could approach the numbers needed for the nomination on March 5 and possibly achieve his goal by March 19.

The Democratic Party, with President Biden running for re-election, will start official primaries starting with South Carolina next month on the 3rd. Both parties will officially select their presidential candidates at their conventions in July and August.