Donald Trump hasn’t taken office yet, but he’s already claiming victories — even when there isn’t much of a battle in the first place. Over the weekend, the President-elect threatened countries in the BRICS+ economic alliance with 100% tariffs if they “move away from the Dollar” or try to “replace the mighty US Dollar” with their own currency.

• BRICS+ — initially formed by members Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — has grown its membership to include countries in North Africa and the Middle East.
• While many of these nations have started to diversify away from the Dollar, they lack the infrastructure to issue a unified currency — a challenge The Average Joe analyzed in a previous report.

Empty victory? BRICS+ represents 45% of the global population, 44% of crude oil production, and 28% of global GDP. However, despite its economic weight, the bloc has never seriously pursued a shared military or reserve currency. This allows the President-elect to declare victory with his aggressive stance, pandering to cultural supporters worried about BRICS+ nations — which include ideological rivals like China, Iran, and Russia. Yet, as our earlier analysis highlighted, BRICS+ might be in trouble due to structural, ideological, and economic differences among members — with Brazil becoming the latest LatAm to stress concerns over its growing ties with China, adding to the bloc’s challenges.