#222 Luke Gromen: 'Devalue The Dollar First' | Why DOGE Without Dollar Weakening Would Be 'Catastrophic
Luke Gromen, founder of FFTT, joins Episode 222 of the Julia La Roche Show to discuss why he believes the Department of Defense, not the Federal Reserve, now drives U.S. economic policy. Gromen warns that if the incoming Trump administration attempts efficiency cuts (DOGE) before devaluing the dollar, "they will fail spectacularly" and "what happened in '08 will look like a tea party." He explains why rebuilding America's hollowed-out defense industrial base requires significant spending that can't be constrained by bond market concerns, shares his portfolio strategy favoring gold, Bitcoin, and T-bills over long-term bonds, and explores how a strategic Bitcoin reserve could help rebalance global trade. This episode was recorded on Dec. 16. Links: website: https://fftt-llc.com/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/lukegromen 00:01 Introduction and welcome Luke Gromen 00:47 Two key themes for 2025 03:12 DOD driving economic decisions, not Fed/Treasury 04:58 Bond market dynamics and military spending 07:25 Defense industrial base concerns 09:16 Historical parallels to WWII financing 12:07 Currency as release valve 14:01 Impact on equities, Bitcoin, gold 16:04 Foreign vs. domestic bondholders 21:06 U.S. debt situation 24:03 Healthcare and entitlement challenges 31:10 Social Security reform mathematics 35:42 Historical dollar devaluations 41:10 DOGE and order of operations 44:15 Optimism about dollar devaluation 47:04 Portfolio allocation strategy 56:09 Strategic Bitcoin reserve discussion