The stock market crash is continuing, but Trump appears to be continuing is tariff rampage across the world anyway. Will nothing deter the destruction now?
It is starting to look like less and less is deterring Trump from breaking America. For some time now, it appeared that the stock market was what was deterring Trump from the ludicrously stupid tariffs on the entire world. This was pretty consistent since January.
Back in January, Trump was threatening to enact his extremely stupid 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico with an additional 10% on China. Those tariffs were then enacted in early February, causing the stock market to crash. Canada, rightfully enacted retaliatory tariffs to defend the country from the American aggressor. As the stock market crash rolled through America, Trump panicked and implemented a 30 day pause. When that happened, the markets recovered.
Well, 30 days came and went and earlier this month, those tariffs resumed. Canada, correctly, hit back against the bully. The stock markets crashed again with the DOW Jones plunging 1,300 points in 2 days. Trump, after seeing the crash hit on Fox News, panicked and partially lifted those tariffs.
The tactic then started changing as Trump started picking and choosing industries to hit next instead of the broad stroke tariffs. It became clear that he was trying to figure out which tariffs would crash the markets and which ones wouldn’t. It is noteworthy how Trump was also changing his messaging and relying on talking points like how there would be “temporary” pain or that America was “transitioning” (more like transitioning from a prosperous nation to a broke as hell nation). What was likely going on is that Trump was actually trying to psych himself up to go through with these tariffs and let the markets crash.
Among the industries targeted were dairy and lumber as well as steel and aluminum. Supposedly, the dairy and lumber tariffs were going to hit ‘Monday or possibly Tuesday’. Well, Monday rolled around and the markets crashed with an additional 900 point drop on the DOW Jones. The tariffs failed to materialize and Trump was even reportedly largely in hiding. Tuesday came and went and the market crash continued with another 500 point drop. Dairy and lumber tariffs, once again, failed to materialize.
On Wednesday, there was what was likely a dead cat bounce where the markets show a false bottom by bumping up. At midnight on Wednesday morning, the steel and aluminum tariffs went into effect. With no crash seemingly happening that day, Trump didn’t back off, allowing, in Trump’s mind, the tariffs to get a free pass. Ontario Premier, Doug Ford, then made a major blunder by lifting the counter tariff on electricity in the hopes of getting talks going. Trump, for his part, took a victory lap over Ford’s weakness on standing up for Canada, saying that he broke some guy in Ottawa. Ford, for his part, ended up with egg on his face on that one, but tried to put on a brave face by calling his blunder ‘just politics’.
Well, today is another day and it seems that the markets have resumed their massive crash. From CNN:
US stocks slid Thursday and the S&P 500 closed in correction, down 10% from its record high in February, as President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on the European Union.
The Dow ended the day down by 537 points, or 1.3%. The S&P 500 fell 1.39% and the Nasdaq Composite was 1.96% lower.
For the first time since this ordeal began, it appears that Trump may not be deterred. The steel and aluminum tariffs remain and Trump is now also threatening a 200% tariff on European alcohol for breaking the tariff rule of “no backsies”. What’s more, additional threats of tariffs on lumber and dairy is popping back into Trumps insane rantings again.
This is bad because the stock market crashes was seemingly the last known deterrent for Trump. If the stock markets are no longer a deterrent, then nothing is stopping the crazy dictator from pushing all of these tariffs. In fact, the messaging from the White House these days seems to be that crashing the stock markets is “worth it” – even if it means plunging the US into a recession. From Global News:
U.S. President Donald Trump’s commerce secretary says sweeping tariffs on foreign goods will be “worth it” even if they push the American economy into a recession.
Yet Howard Lutnick told CBS News in an interview that aired Tuesday night that he doesn’t expect a recession to occur, despite a growing number of economists raising concerns.
“These policies are the most important thing America has ever had,” he said when asked if a recession is worth the risk.
“So it is worth it,” interviewer Nancy Cordes asked in response.
“It is worth it,” Lutnick replied, adding quickly: “The only reason there could possibly be a recession is because of the Biden nonsense that we had to live with.”
It’s both sad and hilarious that the White House is blaming Biden for the mess Trump caused. Biden, after all, handed Trump a functioning and growing economy. Within months, Trump took that economy and is seemingly plunging it directly into a recession. In fact, the real debate at this point is whether the US is already in a recession or heading into the recession. Some are at least saying that the odds of a Trump recession is rising. From CTV:
There is about a 40 per cent chance of a U.S. recession this year and a risk of lasting damage to the country’s standing as an investment destination if the administration undermines trust in U.S. governance, according to J.P. Morgan’s chief economist.
“Where we stand now is with a heightened concern about the U.S. economy,” Bruce Kasman, the U.S. investment bank’s chief global economist, told reporters in Singapore on Wednesday.
He said he has not yet revised any forecasts, but put a roughly 40 per cent recession risk into the outlook – up from about a 30 per cent chance he had reckoned on at the start of the year. J.P. Morgan’s current forecast is for two per cent U.S. GDP growth this year.
U.S. stocks have suffered their sharpest selloff in months over recent days as investors have grown nervous that U.S. President Donald Trump will slow the economy with import duties.
Ninety-five percent of economists polled by Reuters last week across Canada, Mexico and the U.S. said recession risks in their economies had increased as a result of Trump’s tariffs.
If this shift of just dismissing stock market crashes continue, I’m not sure what exactly is stopping Trump from tariffing everyone to death. I can hope that Trump will start panicking when the consequences of his actions steers him away from all of this nonsense, but I can’t help but worry that this is the last shift from the administration to dismantle America’s economy, taking down multiple other nations along with it.
