Two days after sending the economy reeling by announcing widespread tariffs, United States President Donald Trump headed to play golf at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, even as the sell-off for financial markets worldwide is slamming into a higher, scarier gear.
Before heading to his private golf course, Trump wrote on social media: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH.”
Investors are not buying that message.
The S&P 500 tumbled 5.7 percent as Wall Street’s worst crisis since the COVID pandemic crash deepened after China matched Trump’s big rise in tariffs announced earlier this week. The move increases the stakes in a trade war that could end with a recession that hurts everyone. Not even a better-than-expected report on the US job market, which is usually the economic highlight of each month, was enough to stop the slide.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 2,034 points, or 5 percent, and the Nasdaq composite was 5.6 percent lower, with an hour remaining in trading.
So far, there have been few, if any, winners in financial markets from the trade war. European stocks dropped roughly 5 percent. The price of crude oil tumbled to its lowest level since 2021. Other basic building blocks for economic growth, such as copper, also saw prices slide on worries the trade war will weaken the global economy.
The central question looking ahead is: Will the trade war cause a global recession? If it does, stock prices will likely need to come down even more than they have already. The S&P 500 is down roughly 17 percent from its record set in February.
Investors do not expect volatility to subside quickly.
“Until there’s actually a change in the policy or evidence of real negotiations going on, the market’s going to be under pressure,” said Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at the Schwab Center for Financial Research in New York.
Adding to market fears on Friday were comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who said that the tariffs were “significantly larger than expected” and are “highly likely” to cause more inflation – at least in the short term but possibly in the long term as well.
However, Trump has described his policies as a painful yet necessary step to encourage companies to relocate their operations to the United States. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told conservative commentator Tucker Carlson in an interview released Friday that “I think we have to try this, and I have a high confidence ratio it’s going to work.”
The president spent Friday morning defending himself on Truth Social, his social media platform, and promising to stay the course.
“TO THE MANY INVESTORS COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES AND INVESTING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF MONEY, MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE,” he wrote.
Although experts have harshly criticised the tariffs, Trump has found some support on TikTok. The president shared a video that claimed “Trump is crashing the stock market” and “he’s doing it on purpose” as part of a “secret game he’s playing, and it could make you rich”.
The video featured a supposed quote from legendary investor Warren Buffett praising Trump, but Buffett’s company issued a statement saying it was fabricated. The video also said that Trump’s goal is to push the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, something that the president explicitly called for later in the morning.
“This would be a PERFECT time” for Powell to cut interest rates, he wrote. “CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!”
Aim to cut deals
With foreign leaders scrambling in response to Trump’s announcement this week, the president lashed out and looked to cut deals.
He said he spoke with Vietnamese leader To Lam and claimed Vietnam wants to eliminate its tariffs on US goods if it can make a deal with the US.
He also criticised China on Truth Social for announcing its own tariffs on US imports.
“CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED – THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!” he wrote.
Republicans suggested that Trump’s policies would be the start of a parley with foreign countries.
“The president is a dealmaker if nothing else, and he’s going to continue to deal country by country with each of them,” said Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming. He added that Treasury Secretary Bessent had told Senate Republicans this week that the tariffs would be a “high-level mark with the ultimate goal of getting them reduced”, unless other countries retaliate.
Meanwhile, Trump also celebrated a new report showing the US added 228,000 jobs in March, beating expectations. Although the numbers were a snapshot of the economy before the tariff announcement, Trump claimed vindication, saying they already show his moves are working.
“HANG TOUGH,” he wrote. “WE CAN’T LOSE!!!”