Trump Threatens the World Over the Dollar, Critics Say He’s Acting Like a Tyrant

WASHINGTON — In a post that sounded less like economic policy and more like a threat,  President Donald J. Trump warned that countries moving away from the U.S. dollar would be punished with massive tariffs and shut out of the American market.

Trump’s message was blunt. If nations tied to BRICS even think about reducing reliance on the dollar or supporting an alternative currency system, he says the United States should slam them with 100 percent tariffs. Fall in line, or be economically exiled.

To critics, it read like economic strong-arming — the language of coercion, not cooperation.

Why countries are turning away from the dollar

What Trump framed as “disloyalty” is, for many countries, basic self-preservation.

First, there’s sanctions. Nations such as Russia and Iran have learned the hard way that the dollar can be used as a political weapon. When

trade runs through U.S.-controlled systems, Washington effectively holds the off switch.

Second, there’s control. Many governments are tired of a global system where U.S. monetary policy — interest rate hikes, debt expansion, banking decisions — ripples through their economies even though they have no say in it. Trading in local currencies reduces that dependency.

Third, the world has changed. Growth is no longer centered only in the United States and Europe. Countries like China, India, and Brazil now drive global production, energy demand, and manufacturing. They want a financial system that reflects that reality.

And finally, it’s about leverage. Energy producers and commodity exporters inside BRICS know the dollar’s dominance gives Washington outsized power. Even partial alternatives — local-currency trade, new payment systems, regional banks — weaken that grip.

No BRICS currency — but a clear direction

Despite Trump’s warnings, there is no functioning BRICS currency replacing the dollar. What exists instead is a slow, deliberate shift: more bilateral trade settled outside the dollar, expanded use of development banks like the New Development Bank, and parallel payment systems designed to bypass U.S.-controlled financial rails.

Economists say the dollar is not about to collapse. But they also say its dominance is no longer unquestioned.

Power versus partnership

Trump’s response reflects a worldview where economic power is enforced, not earned. Rather than asking why countries want alternatives, he threatens punishment for even exploring them.

That approach may play well to a domestic audience, but globally it reinforces the very behavior driving nations toward BRICS in the first place: a belief that the U.S. uses the dollar not as a shared tool of trade, but as a club.

The irony is hard to miss. The more Washington talks like an empire demanding obedience, the more other countries look for ways out from under its currency — quietly, carefully, and increasingly together.