FILE – A seal is seen before Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell walks out to speak during a news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025, at the Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, file)

America’s power doesn’t come from our missiles or markets alone — it comes from trust. Trust in our democracy. Trust in our institutions. And most importantly, trust in our money.

That trust begins and ends with the Federal Reserve. For more than a century, the Fed has anchored the U.S. dollar as the world’s most trusted currency. When nations trade oil, food or technology, they settle in dollars — not because they have to, but because they believe in the stability, transparency and independence of the American system.

If that trust breaks, the foundation of the global economy collapses. And China knows it.

The Chinese Communist Party has been playing a long game — a “game of Go” — a slow, patient strategy to surround and weaken opponents without firing a shot. Beijing understands it can’t beat the U.S. militarily, so it’s trying to make us turn on ourselves. Its most powerful weapon? Division.

China’s state-linked media, social platforms, and digital echo chambers amplify messages that make Americans question everything — especially the Fed. Some posts say the Fed is controlled by Wall Street billionaires rigging the system for the rich. Others claim it’s a corrupt “deep state” out to crush small businesses and families. The purpose isn’t to make you believe one side. It’s to make you stop believing in the system itself.

Once trust in the Fed fades, faith in the dollar follows. And when the world stops trusting the dollar, America loses its greatest strength — our ability to lead the global economy on our own terms.

If China succeeds, the dollar will no longer be the world’s safe haven. International markets will shift toward China’s yuan or its emerging digital currency. That means the rules of the global economy — trade, credit, debt, and security — will be written in Beijing, not Washington. America would be cornered, forced to play on China’s board, in China’s game. That’s surrender by submission, not conquest by force.

Our political division is helping China get there faster. Every partisan fight that paints the Fed as an enemy, instead of an essential institution, chips away at confidence — both here and abroad. The louder we shout, the weaker our dollar sounds to the world. The more we attack the Fed’s independence, the more we invite others to control our future.

It’s time for Americans to remember what makes our economy — and our freedom — possible. We can debate policy, reform systems, and demand accountability, but we cannot destroy the one institution that keeps our financial heart beating. The Fed’s independence is not a partisan issue — it’s a patriotic one.

Defending the Fed means defending the value of every paycheck, every retirement account, every home, and every dream built on the promise that a dollar will still be worth something tomorrow. Lose that, and we lose not just our wealth, but our sovereignty.

China doesn’t need to invade America to win. It just needs us to doubt ourselves — to lose faith in the very system that has made us the backbone of the world’s economy.

If we want to protect our democracy, we must start by protecting the trust that holds it together. That means standing behind the Fed — not as Republicans or Democrats, but as Americans who understand that the dollar’s strength is the nation’s strength.

Because once the trust is gone, it doesn’t come back. And once the dollar falls, so does the freedom it represents.

*Thomas W. Reed II, a former member of the U.S. House, represented southwestern New York from 2010 to 2022. Max Rose, a former member of Congress, represented Staten Island and Southwest Brooklyn in Congress from 2019 to 2021. *

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