Market Plunge ‘Part of the Plan,’ President Suggests
President Donald Trump appeared to endorse the theory that his administration is deliberately triggering a stock market decline as part of a calculated economic strategy. On Friday morning, as markets plummeted for a second consecutive day, Trump shared a video on his Truth Social platform suggesting the market crash was a “wild chess move” designed to force the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
The minute-long video, which Trump posted without comment, claimed the president was “purposely crashing the stock market” to push more cash into the Treasury and enable the government to “refinance trillions of debt very inexpensively” once the Fed lowers rates. According to The Irish Star, the video also suggested this approach would weaken the dollar and lower mortgage rates – outcomes the narrator characterized as beneficial for average Americans.
The video’s circulation coincided with the stock market suffering its worst week since the COVID-19 pandemic. By Friday afternoon, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had plunged more than 2,200 points, while the S&P 500 had lost approximately 10% over just two days of trading. The sharp decline began Wednesday evening after Trump announced sweeping global tariffs, including a 54% total duty on Chinese imports.
China Retaliates as Global Markets Tumble
China’s Ministry of Finance announced Friday morning it would impose a reciprocal 34% tariff on all U.S. goods beginning April 10, calling the U.S. tariffs “a typical unilateral bullying practice.” The retaliatory measures intensified the global market selloff, with CNBC reporting that European markets also suffered severe losses – Italy’s FTSE MIB fell over 7% and Spain’s IBEX 35 dropped more than 5.5%.
“The bull market is dead, and it was destroyed by ideologues and self-inflicted wounds,” said Emily Bowersock Hill, CEO of Bowersock Capital Partners, in comments to CNBC. “While the market may be close to the bottom in the short-term, we are concerned about the impact of a global trade-war on long-term economic growth.”
Despite the market turbulence, Trump appeared undeterred, posting on Truth Social Friday that his “policies will never change.” This stance contrasted sharply with assessments from economists, who have warned that the tariffs could spark inflation and potentially trigger a global recession.
Economic Experts Sound Alarm
“This is a game changer, not only for the U.S. economy but for the global economy,” said Olu Sonola, head of U.S. Economic Research at Fitch Ratings. “Many countries will likely end up in a recession.” JPMorgan raised its global recession probability to 60% if Trump’s tariff plan proceeds as announced, up from 40% previously.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell added to market concerns Friday by signaling the central bank would wait to see the effects of the tariffs before making any policy changes. “Our obligation is to keep longer-term inflation expectations well anchored and to make certain that a one-time increase in the price level does not become an ongoing inflation problem,” Powell said, adding that the announced tariffs were “significantly larger than expected.”
Technology stocks bore the brunt of the selling pressure, with semiconductor shares experiencing their worst week in over 20 years. The iShares Semiconductor ETF dropped more than 16% for the week, its steepest weekly decline since September 2001.
While equity markets crashed, cryptocurrencies showed surprising resilience. Bitcoin gained approximately 2% on Friday, a divergence that some analysts interpreted as evidence that digital assets might benefit from global trade disruptions. “The tariffs are reshaping global trade away from the U.S., reducing dollar reliance,” said James Davies, CEO of Crypto Valley Exchange. “Crypto is robust. As its decentralized nature indicates, it should be a winner from this.”
Whether the market turmoil represents a deliberate strategy as suggested in Trump’s shared video or an unintended consequence of aggressive trade policy, the immediate economic pain has been substantial and widespread, with trillions in market value erased in just two days of trading.
