As global stock markets quickly rebound following a 90-day pause on tariffs, some observers have highlighted a peculiar comment made by Donald Trump about the situation.
The recent imposition and subsequent removal of tariffs on the United States’ trading partners, orchestrated by Trump in a bid to ‘Make America Wealthy Again,’ seems to have had unintended consequences.
On April 2, when the President announced that over 60 countries, including some remote islands, would face a minimum 10 percent tariff on goods entering the US, the stock market experienced a sharp plunge, losing $2 trillion in just 25 seconds.
The tariffs, applied to countries ‘whether friend or foe,’ were implemented at midnight, with a second set targeting the ‘worst offenders’ set for April 9. This included a 20 percent tariff on European Union goods, 34 percent on Chinese goods, and 46 percent on Vietnamese goods, among others.
Many countries indicated they would respond with tariffs on US products, with China vowing to ‘fight to the end,’ while the EU suggested countermeasures were still under consideration.
However, on the implementation day, Trump made an unexpected reversal, announcing a temporary suspension of increased tariffs on all countries except China. For China, tariffs were raised to 125 percent, as Trump accused Beijing of showing a ‘lack of respect.’
This unexpected change revitalized the stock market, with the S&P 500 seeing a 7 percent increase by mid-day following the announcement, closing the day with a 9.5 percent rise, while the Dow Jones climbed by 7.8 percent.
By Thursday (April 10), global markets had rebounded, with Japan’s benchmark index jumping over 9 percent as investors welcomed the suspension.
Nevertheless, some noted an odd remark made by Trump just hours before the pause was announced.
Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT” at 9:37 a.m.
The timing of this encouragement to ‘buy’ and invest has raised eyebrows, with some suggesting the President might be manipulating the markets.
California Democrat representative Mike Levin expressed his concerns on Twitter: “Trump posts THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!—then caves on tariffs hours later. Market surges. Middle-class investors who sold during the chaos lose big. Insiders win again.
“This is market manipulation to help his base profit. How is this legal or OK?”
In a follow-up video, Levin noted that those who heeded Trump’s advice and bought ‘did great,’ while those who sold ‘got screwed.’
“This is market manipulation at its worst,” he concluded.
Another commenter stated: “So, [Trump] f**kin tanks markets to increase the market? There’s a word for that: ILLEGAL.”
Yet another suggested: “He’s intentionally tanking the stocks so that all of the billionaires can buy low and then cancel the tariffs so that they all get even richer. Manipulating the market. Disgusting.”
“This administration is going to be investigated for market manipulation,” added another, noting the unprecedented nature of the events.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied that the policy reversal was driven by international market declines, while senior Democrat Chuck Schumer described it as evidence of Trump ‘retreating.’
Trump defended the pause, asserting it ‘had to be done’ because people were becoming ‘yippy.’
“I did a 90-day pause for the people that didn’t retaliate because I told them ‘if you retaliate, we’re going to double it’ – and that’s what I did with China,” he stated, adding: “It’s all going to work out amazing.”