This has always been the primary goal of U.S. policy - protecting the reserve currency of the U.S. dollar, or as I call it "protecting the magic printing press." And, yes, rampant "manipulation" has been used for decades to achieve this result. That's why gold and silver "markets" have been manipulated for so long. The Status Quo Protectors know that they have to impeach/impugn people who believe in other forms of "money." Thus, these proponents of "history's money" or "real money" became gold "BUGS" - a dirty insect that should be squashed. The same tactic was used to malign critics of Covid "vaccines" as "anti-vaxxers" or "science deniers."

Yes, follow the money ... and all the money really comes from a magic fiat printing press, which would be destroyed if "faith" in the U.S. dollar somehow evaporated.