Stock market crash not part of Trump’s strategy

A crashing stock market is not part of an intentional strategy by President Donald Trump, White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. This came after Trump shared a link to a video on his social media platform, Truth Social, which claimed the president was causing the markets to plummet on purpose as part of his broader economic plans. 

The video, which initially appeared on TikTok in March, was shared by Trump on April 4, two days after his tariffs announcement.

“Trump is crashing the stock market by 20% this month, but he’s doing it on purpose. … And it could make you rich” the video said. It continued by adding that such a move by Trump would help “push cash into treasuries, which forces the Fed to slash interest rates in May. … It also weakens the dollar and drops mortgage rates. Now it’s a wild chess move, but it’s working.” 

When repeatedly questioned about whether Trump intentionally strategized a market selloff, Hasset responded, “He’s not trying to tank the market. He’s trying to deliver for American workers.” 

“It is not a strategy for the markets to crash,” Hasset said.

The president’s retaliatory tariffs rollout on Wednesday led to a steep market selloff due to rising fears of a protracted global trade war and a recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined around 2,231 points, or 5.5%, on Friday alone — its largest drop since June 2020. The broad market S&P 500 sold off nearly 6% Friday, following a 4.8% plunge on Thursday. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite sank nearly 12% in the two days following the tariff rollout and fell into bear market territory.