'A re-pricing of trust' Geopolitics and trade tensions drive a new gold rush

Last year’s crazy run on precious metals has only intensified in 2026, as Donald Trump has continued to rip up the rules of the global economy.

- Heather Stewart Economics editor

Gold has been on an extraordinary tear since last summer, repeatedly breaking records. It has risen by more than a quarter this month and hit a new high of just under $5,595 an ounce yesterday. It dropped sharply later in the day to $5,250 as speculation swirled about possible US action in Iran; but that remains almost double the price when Donald Trump's second term in the White House kicked off a year ago.

Silver, meanwhile, was trading below $30 an ounce when the president prepared to announce his "liberation day" tariffs last April, but has since almost quadrupled in price, to more than $118 an ounce, with the most rapid run-up coming in the last month.

Gold has always been the ultimate "safe haven" asset, acting as a store of value in the face of inflation risks or broader economic and geopolitical uncertainty, all of which Trump has provided in spades. The administration's aggressive policies - including punitive tariffs on trading partners, threats to annex or bomb other countries such as Greenland and Iran and increasing pressure on the Federal Reserve to make it cut interest rates, including launching a criminal case against the central bank's chair, Jerome Powell - have sent investors scurrying for the precious metal.

Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com, summed the situation up: “Gold and silver are reflecting more than short-term market stress; they are signalling a repricing of trust. Trust in currencies, in institutions, and in the stability of the post-cold war economic order.”