Vance takes his first economic punch in the 2028 primary
The vice president’s past skepticism about the dollar’s status as reserve currency has sparked a debate on the right.
Economist Phillip Magness was surprised when his post of Vice President JD Vance’s comments on the US dollar’s reserve currency status went viral. In a 2023 clip, the then-senator said he was “not sure” it’s “actually good” that foreign central banks hold their reserves in dollars, calling the reserve-currency status a “resource curse” like coal in Appalachia.
Magness highlighted Vance’s remarks that forsaking reserve-currency status could enable the US to “make enough weapons” to assist Ukraine. This has led some allies of the vice president to accuse free-market Republicans of trying to discredit his economic policies ahead of a potential 2028 presidential race. However, Vance’s current position remains unclear, as he hasn’t explicitly advocated for replacing the dollar as the reserve currency.
President Donald Trump’s administration has shown no interest in altering the status quo, prioritizing tariffs to boost US exports instead. Despite his populist past, Vance’s economic identity as the Republican frontrunner for 2028 is still uncertain, with his Senate aides sharing Vance’s comments on the vice president’s stance on the dollar’s reserve-currency status.
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