Why Europe's Gold Holdings in Manhattan Are Now Under Intense Scrutiny

The landscape of global central bank gold storage is shifting dramatically. A groundswell of political pressure across Europe—particularly in Germany and Italy—is forcing a reckoning with decades-old assumptions about where national gold reserves should actually reside.

The Numbers Behind the Movement

Germany and Italy combined hold over $245 billion in gold reserves, positioning them as the world’s second and third largest gold-hoarding nations. Yet here’s the catch: a massive portion sits in vaults beneath Manhattan’s Federal Reserve Bank, a setup rooted in post-WWII financial arrangements when New York was the undisputed center of global gold trading.

Today, this arrangement is no longer a comfortable given. Germany currently has 37 percent of its bullion parked overseas, despite efforts to bring some home. Italy keeps 43 percent of its reserves in US custody—a concentration that’s increasingly raising eyebrows among European policymakers and commentators.

The Catalyst: Political and Economic Concerns

The timing of this scrutiny is no accident. Recent statements from US President Donald Trump—particularly his warnings about potentially “forcing something” if the Federal Reserve doesn’t comply with rate cuts—have rattled confidence in the independence of American financial institutions.

“Trump wants to control the Fed, which would also mean controlling the German gold reserves in the US,” declared Michael Jäger, president of the Taxpayers Association of Europe, according to Reuters. “It’s our money, it should be brought back.”

In Italy, economic commentator Enrico Grazzini sounded an alarm in Il Fatto Quotidiano, warning that maintaining 43 percent of Italy’s gold under “an unreliable Trump administration is very dangerous for national interest.”

These aren’t fringe voices either. Fabio De Masi, formerly an European Parliament member now with Germany’s BSW party, told the Financial Times there are “strong arguments” for repatriating more gold to German soil.

Historical Precedent: Germany’s Repatriation Blueprint

This conversation isn’t entirely new. Germany’s experience offers a roadmap. A grassroots movement beginning in 2010 pressured the Bundesbank to undertake a multi-year repatriation operation between 2013 and 2017, bringing 674 metric tons home from New York and Paris at a cost of 7 million euros. The result: by 2020, half of Germany’s gold sat domestically.

Italy’s ruling Brothers of Italy party once made similar campaign promises in 2019, pledging to retrieve the nation’s gold. However, since assuming office in 2022, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has largely shelved the issue.

The Broader Central Bank Shift

What’s striking is how sentiment is changing across the entire central banking world. The World Gold Council’s latest survey on central bank gold reserves revealed that 43 percent of responding central banks plan to increasing their holdings in the coming year—a record. Even more telling: 59 percent now report holding at least some gold domestically, up sharply from just 41 percent in 2024.

The overwhelming consensus (95 percent of respondents) expects global central bank gold reserves to continue rising, driven by gold’s crisis performance, inflation-hedging properties, and portfolio diversification benefits.

Yet the survey also documents a pivot away from US storage: only 7 percent of central banks planned to increase domestic storage last year, but that figure jumped significantly in 2025. While the Bank of England remains the preferred vaulting location, American custodianship is losing its traditional appeal.

The Audit Question: A Game-Changer

Adding pressure from another angle is House Bill 3795, introduced by Representative Thomas Massie and supported by co-sponsors, which demands the first comprehensive audit of US gold holdings in over 60 years. The bill would require a full physical inventory and assay of gold at Fort Knox, West Point, and the Denver Mint, plus forensic accounting of all US gold transactions over the past five decades.

Jp Cortez, executive director of the Sound Money Defense League, emphasized in an interview with the Investing News Network that the core question is ownership: “If America does not actually own the gold, if it has been pledged or leased or swapped or otherwise encumbered, this would be a huge detriment to the US and the global economy.”

Cortez also noted that prior US audits examined storage containers rather than the metal itself, and flagged that much US government gold is impure by modern standards, having been melted from older coinage. These refinement questions would persist even if bars are physically verified.

Trump himself has signaled interest, stating: “We’re actually going to Fort Knox to see if the gold is there. Because maybe somebody stole the gold. Tons of gold.”

What Comes Next

The convergence of these forces—political skepticism in Germany and Italy, shifting central bank preferences for domestic storage, and renewed calls for US gold audits—suggests the era of unquestioned American gold custodianship may be ending. Whether Europe moves aggressively to repatriate remains an open question, but the underlying pressure is clearly mounting.