Ex-CIA Insider, Jim Rickards Reveals: “This $150 Trillion U.S. Asset Was Hidden for 163 Years—Now It Could Rewrite the Rules of the American Economy”

/EIN News/ -- WASHINGTON, March 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Former CIA advisor and economic forecaster Jim Rickards says America may be on the verge of a historic awakening. According to Rickards, the federal government has quietly held control of a $150 trillion asset—untouched for over 160 years—that could now be unlocked thanks to a pivotal Supreme Court ruling.

“This “trust” has been sealed off from the public for generations,” Rickards explains. “Now, for the first time, it’s poised to be released—and it’s unlike anything we’ve seen in modern history.”

What It Is—and What It’s Not

Rickards says this isn’t gold, cash, or real estate. And it’s not actually a trust fund.

“It’s not earmarked for any specific individual,” he clarifies. “I’m just trying to use terminology that will make the most sense to viewers.”

Instead, it refers to mineral-rich federal lands that span the western U.S.—vastly underutilized due to decades of regulatory deadlock. These lands are estimated to hold trillions of dollars in buried resources, including copper, uranium, lithium, and rare earth metals.

“Locked-Up Land” That Could Power America’s Future

A staggering 28% of U.S. land is controlled by the federal government—much of it rich with critical minerals essential to everything from AI chips to missile defense systems. Rickards says this land has been “bottled up” for decades due to red tape.

“To protect the ‘environment’ they destroyed our middle class. They shipped our key industries overseas. Then bottled-up America’s most valuable resources.”

Fast Facts: The Scale of What’s Buried Beneath Our Feet

Rickards outlines just how massive the opportunity is:

• $7.35 trillion in Midland, Texas
  
• $3.1 trillion in Nome, Alaska
  
• $516 billion near the Salton Sea in California
  
• Enough copper in one Arizona mine to supply 25% of U.S. demand
  
• America ranks second-to-last globally in the speed of mineral extraction—just ahead of Zambia
  

“We have truly massive mineral wealth here. It’s not hard to extract. We know where it is. And how to get it.”

Why No One’s Tapped It—Until Now

For years, the Chevron Doctrine gave federal agencies sweeping powers to block development. Now that it’s been overturned by Trump’s Supreme Court, Rickards believes the door has been blown wide open.

“But all that’s over now,” he says. “Now… for the first time in half a century – we can go get them.”

Rickards Predicts: A New American System

Rickards believes the release of this trust could trigger a national economic reset—away from bureaucratic globalism and back toward self-reliance and prosperity.

“Trump is going to reset the clock on our republic. And return us to something known as the ‘American System.’”

That system, he explains, prioritizes domestic energy, mineral independence, tariffs over taxes, and strategic national wealth. And he believes it may already be in motion.

About Jim Rickards

Jim Rickards is a former advisor to the CIA, White House, and Pentagon. He’s conducted financial war games for the Department of Defense and served as legal counsel during the Long-Term Capital Management rescue. A bestselling author and frequent financial commentator, Rickards is recognized for accurately predicting the 2008 financial crisis, the 2020 lockdown, and both of Donald Trump’s election victories. He now shares his strategic insights through his ongoing research publication, Strategic Intelligence.

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