Foreign buyers are backing away from US government debt, which is bad news for the dollar, for borrowing costs, and for anyone holding long-term bonds.

• Countries cut their US debt holdings by about $72 billion in a single month, with Japan alone dumping $26 billion in June.
• Attempts to prop up the market have failed — bond yields snapped straight back to where they started after the buyback announcement.
• Trump says growth will fix the $40 trillion debt, but the real plan looks like letting inflation run hot and the dollar fall, and investors have noticed.
• Trump also hinted the military is an option to stop countries from selling US bonds, a threat that would freeze new buying rather than restore it.
• Bessent is pushing allies and even China to help squeeze Iran's economy, while a US blockade has cut Chinese refining volumes sharply — giving Beijing no reason to cooperate.

Outlook: With $10 trillion of cheap debt due to be refinanced at much higher rates, the choice narrows to a recession or a weaker dollar, and Ray Dalio puts a sovereign debt crisis two to three years out while urging investors into gold.