You’ve probably heard the news that Trump just signed an executive order on February 3, 2025, to set up America’s first-ever sovereign wealth fund. That’s right, the U.S. is about to get its own government-run investment fund, basically a hedge fund on steroids controlled by Uncle Sam himself. But what the hell does that even mean? When will it take effect? And more importantly, is this a genius move or just another overhyped show waiting to implode? Let’s break it all down.
What the hell is a sovereign wealth fund?
A sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is basically a massive government-run investment portfolio. Imagine if the U.S. government was a hedge fund manager, taking billions (or trillions) and investing it in stocks, real estate, businesses, tech, and infrastructure. Instead of just taxing the hell out of people, they’d be generating money from investments—like Saudi Arabia, Norway, and China already do.
Here are some already existing and successful SWFs:
Norway’s Oil Fund – $1.5 TRILLION, investing in everything from Apple to Tesla.
China Investment Corporation (CIC) – Owns chunks of Wall Street, banks, and global real estate.
Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) – Bought up Newcastle FC, stakes in gaming companies, and even tried to buy Formula 1.
The U.S. doesn’t have one… yet. That’s what Trump wants to change.
But where is the money coming from?
Here’s where it gets interesting. Unlike Norway or Saudi Arabia, the U.S. government isn’t sitting on a pile of oil money. So, how the hell does Trump plan to fund this?
1️⃣ Tariff money – “Make China pay”
Trump’s big brain move here is slapping tariffs on imports, particularly on Chinese goods, and stuffing that cash into the sovereign wealth fund. Sounds tough, sounds patriotic, but here’s the catch—tariffs ain’t free money. When the U.S. government charges higher taxes on imported goods, it’s not China that eats the cost, it’s American consumers and businesses. You like cheap electronics? Cheap cars? Cheap anything? Well, expect those prices to shoot up, because when companies pay more for imports, they sure as hell ain’t just eating the cost—they’re passing it down to you.
(If you want to understand more on tariffs and how do they affect everything you should read the deep dive we did on it here: How Trump’s Trade / Tariff War Will F*ck Your Wallet, Stocks, and Crypto)
The upside is that if Trump goes through with it, this could generate billions in revenue, giving the government a fat stack of cash to invest. The downside? If China or other countries retaliate with tariffs of their own, American exports get slammed, businesses struggle, and suddenly, what was meant to "Make China Pay" ends up making you pay. It’s a gamble—one Trump thinks he can win, but the fallout could be brutal.
2️⃣ Selling off U.S. government-owned assets
Now here’s where things get interesting. The U.S. government owns a ridiculous amount of real estate, buildings, and land—most of it just sitting there collecting dust. Trump could start selling off chunks of government property, from abandoned military bases to prime federal land, to raise the billions needed to fuel this sovereign wealth fund. In theory, this makes sense—why sit on assets when you could flip them for cash and start investing?
But here’s where it gets messy. You start selling off major infrastructure or critical land, and suddenly, people start asking: Who’s buying? If Trump dumps government property on the market, you can bet foreign investors, billionaires, and hedge funds will be lining up to grab a piece. The idea of China or Saudi Arabia buying up prime U.S. land wouldn’t sit well with many, so he’d have to be careful. Plus, once you sell an asset, it’s gone forever—meaning if this whole sovereign wealth fund experiment goes south, there’s no way to get that land or those buildings back. High risk, high reward, but that's how he likes to operate.
3️⃣ Cutting government waste – Enter Elon Musk’s DOGE department
I want to start that this is only a theory of mine but if you look into it, it has merit. DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) is Elon Musk’s new pet project that is gutting waste and turning the federal government into a lean, mean, efficient machine. Trump put Musk in charge of DOGE, which, let’s be real, is basically an excuse to let Elon fire anyone he thinks is useless. Musk has been saying for years that government agencies are bloated disasters drowning in red tape and useless spending. Now he’s got a golden ticket to slash budgets, fire dead weight, and cut programs that aren’t pulling their weight.
The big question is: Can DOGE actually free up enough cash to fund the sovereign wealth fund? No official connection has been made yet, but speculation is running wild that Trump could take the billions saved from Musk’s efficiency cuts and funnel it into the investment fund. The logic here is simple: if you cut enough wasteful government spending, you end up with extra cash—and instead of wasting it on more government nonsense, Trump wants to invest it like a hedge fund manager on steroids. Whether that actually happens or if this just turns into Musk tweeting about "funding secured" is anyone’s guess.
4️⃣ Printing the Damn Money (AKA The Dumbest Option)
The classic government trick—just print more money and act like that’s a real solution. If Trump goes full "screw it" mode and just prints cash to fund this thing, we’re talking about instant inflation and economic suicide.
When a government prints money out of thin air, it devalues the currency, meaning your dollars are worth less, and everything costs more. Think 1970s stagflation, think Venezuela.
(If you haven't heard of them yet basically everyone was f*cked. 1970s stagflation in the U.S. was a brutal mix of skyrocketing inflation, high unemployment, and stagnant economic growth, caused by reckless money printing, oil shocks, and bad policy, while Venezuela's collapse was hyperinflation on steroids, where the government printed so much worthless cash that basic goods became unaffordable, the currency became toilet paper, and the economy crumbled into chaos)
Now, nobody’s officially suggested this—yet. I think Trump is too smart of a business man to do this but you never know, so I tought it is at least worth mentioning. “If we just print the money?” It’s the equivalent of setting your house on fire to stay warm in winter—it works for about five minutes before everything goes to hell. If this sovereign wealth fund ever ends up being funded this way, you’ll want to start buying gold, Bitcoin, and maybe some land somewhere far away from the burning wreckage of the economy.
But what will the fund invest in?
Alright, let’s say Trump actually stacks this fund with cash—now what? The whole idea of a sovereign wealth fund is to make investments on behalf of the country, throwing money into stocks, bonds, infrastructure, energy, and even crypto. One route they could take is investing directly into U.S. businesses and infrastructure—funding new tech companies, expanding oil and gas production, or backing AI development. This would be the "America First" angle, where the fund is used to strengthen U.S. industries while making a return.
The other possibility is that the government buys up major assets, like shares in blue-chip companies or even crypto like Bitcoin, as a way to hedge against inflation and global instability.
TikTok & Big Tech Takeovers: Trump has already floated the idea of using this fund to acquire TikTok. Sounds insane? Maybe. But the Saudis and Chinese do this all the time.
And then there’s the wildcard idea: using the fund to pay off U.S. debt. America is drowning in over $34 trillion of debt, and in theory, a well-managed sovereign wealth fund could generate returns that help chip away at that number. But let’s be honest—that ain’t happening. The government doesn’t have the discipline to do that, and there’s no way they’ll take profits and use them responsibly.
In the end, this whole thing is shaping up to be one of the biggest financial power plays in U.S. history. If Trump pulls it off, he’ll have a war chest of investment capital that could reshape America’s economy. If it blows up? Well, it’ll be another expensive, messy, legendary Trump moment.
Is this the best idea ever or the dumbest sh*t we’ve ever seen?
This thing could be a genius play or a colossal f*ckup.
✅ If it works, the U.S. prints money like a hedge fund instead of just taxing people.
✅ Could help the U.S. outcompete China in strategic industries.
✅ Might replace some dumb government spending with smart investments.
BUT...
❌ U.S. government investing in stocks and companies? What could possibly go wrong? (Spoiler: everything.)
❌ Corruption waiting to happen—politicians love spending other people’s money.
❌ What if it loses money? If this thing tanks, taxpayers eat the loss.
Look, this could either be the biggest financial power move of all time or a meme that crashes and burns. One thing’s for sure: Wall Street, Washington, and finance nerds are gonna lose their minds over this.
If DOGE (Elon's government efficiency squad) actually saves enough cash, maybe—just maybe—this fund could work. If Trump pulls off a play where the U.S. OWNS stakes in top industries, we could be looking at a serious wealth generation machine. But if this turns into a political slush fund, expect a trillion-dollar bonfire. Either way, grab the popcorn, because you are witnessing an economical moment that has never been done before in U.S. history.
Comments