Jacob Ogles
When Donald Trump offered some financial advice Wednesday morning, stocks were wavering between gains and losses.
But that was about to change.
“THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT,” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social at 9:37 a.m.
Less than four hours later, Trump announced a 90-day pause on nearly all his tariffs. Stocks soared on the news, closing up 9.5% by the end of trading. The market, measured by the S&P 500, gained back about $4 trillion, or 70%, of the value it had lost over the previous four trading days.
It was a prescient call by the President. Maybe too prescient.
“He’s loving this, this control over markets, but he better be careful,” said Trump critic and former White House ethics lawyer, Richard Painter, noting that securities law prohibits trading on insider information or helping others do so. “The people who bought when they saw that post made a lot of money.”
The question is, Was Trump already contemplating the tariff pause when he made that post?
Asked about when he arrived at his decision, Trump gave a muddled answer.
“I would say this morning,” he said. “Over the last few days, I’ve been thinking about it.”
He then added, “Fairly early this morning.”
Asked for clarification on the timing in an email to the White House later, a spokesperson didn’t answer directly but defended Trump’s post as part of his job.
“It is the responsibility of the President of the United States to reassure the markets and Americans about their economic security in the face of nonstop media fearmongering,” wrote White House spokesman Kush Desai.
Another curiosity of the posting was Trump’s signoff with his initials.
DJT is also the stock symbol for Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of the president’s social media platform Truth Social.
It’s not clear if Trump was saying buying stocks in general, or Trump Media in particular. The White House was asked, but didn’t address that either. Trump includes “DJT” on his posts intermittently, typically to emphasize that he has personally written the message.
The ambiguity about what Trump meant didn’t stop people from pouring money into that stock.
Trump Media closed up 22.67%, soaring twice as much as the broader market, a stunning performance by a company that lost $400 million last year and is seemingly unaffected by whether tariffs would be imposed or paused.
Trump’s 53% ownership stake in the company, now in a trust controlled by his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., rose by $415 million on the day.
Trump Media was bested, albeit by only two-hundreds of a percentage point, by another Trump administration stock pick — Elon Musk’s Tesla.
Last month, Trump held an extraordinary news conference outside the White House praising the company and its cars. That was followed by a Fox TV appearance by his Commerce Secretary urging viewers to buy the stock.
Tesla’s surge Wednesday added $20 billion to Musk’s fortunes.
Kathleen Clark, a government ethics law expert at Washington University School of Law, says Trump’s post in other administrations would have been investigated, but is not likely not to trigger any reaction, save for maybe more Truth Social viewers.
“He’s sending the message that he can effectively and with impunity manipulate the market,” she said, “As in: Watch this space for future stock tips.”
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
20 comments
Peachy
April 10, 2025 at 7:08 am
To heck with Trump. What did Pelosi do? She has outperformed most of the hedge fund managers out there, and she doesn’t read a thing.
Peachy
April 10, 2025 at 7:14 am
So much hate of Trump by the Democrats I’m sure most of them missed the opportunity.
Bill
April 10, 2025 at 9:44 am
Don’t feel bad. I’m not a democrat and I hate him as well. He’s basically an effing moron who blinked when he realized the bond market was tanking. Fox can spin it any way they like but it’s basically shear incompetence and/or outright corruption.
K. Hyman
April 11, 2025 at 7:40 am
Agree.
Michael K
April 10, 2025 at 7:27 am
The most inept and corrupt felon ever to occupy the White House. Remember when tariffs were about stopping fentanyl ? Remember how they would bring trillions of revenue? Remember all the lies and changing stories and chaos and shifting blame that ensued?
There is no plan. Ever. There is no truth. Ever. There’s only one goal: Trump and his spawn gaming everything to make more money. It’s all he worships.
And the rubes fall for it over and over again.
The biggest losers are good American people who lost significant wealth because of Trump’s stupid “instinctive” destruction and personal greed. America’s once trusted global alliances and leadership that took decades to build is in shattered ruins.
K. Hyman
April 11, 2025 at 7:42 am
Exactly.
Michael K
April 10, 2025 at 7:41 am
Now we understand why Trump eviscerated watchdog functions of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other IGs.
K. Hyman
April 11, 2025 at 7:42 am
Exactly.
PeterH
April 10, 2025 at 7:50 am
Without a doubt, historians will remember Donald Trump as one of America’s worst presidents. Republicans are an international embarrassment.
Peachy
April 10, 2025 at 8:34 am
Only by the same history books you read that claim Biden was the best president.
PeterH
April 10, 2025 at 9:37 am
Republicans are America’s worst enemy! Vote all Republicans out of office.
Peachy
April 10, 2025 at 9:45 am
You still claiming to be an independent? Hilarious. 🤣
TJC
April 10, 2025 at 9:53 am
There you go again, claiming to be capable of laughter. The emoji doesn’t cut it. You are a sad little man with a big chip on your shoulder.
And it shows.
Peachy
April 10, 2025 at 10:07 am
Truth hurts doesn’t it TJC. 😜
PeterH
April 10, 2025 at 10:22 am
Today’s Republican Party needs to be completely destroyed so that at a later time it can be rebuilt from the ground up! The Party in its current form is good for absolutely nothing.
Peachy
April 10, 2025 at 11:38 am
Have to say Peter H, I am really enjoying watching your party rebuild itself. Lots of very dim bulbs rising to the top.
Michael K
April 10, 2025 at 2:40 pm
Poor Lilttle Miss Spoke. No matter which of the multiple screen names and personas she/they/it uses, it’s always whatabout and off topic derision. I’ve yet to hear her/them/it defend or rationalize the felonious Trump.
Ocean Joe
April 10, 2025 at 4:16 pm
He tanks the market and then claims he backed down because people were getting ‘yippy,’ and thinks it’s all a big joke that millions of Americans had large portions of their investments wiped out for nothing other than his vanity. The guy has no clue. He laughs about it. Just like he always tells us how smart he is, now he has to tell us he knows what he’s doing…because the evidence is clear and convincing that he’s just trying to bluff and bully other countries with no coherent plan or policy.
Markets are zigzagging just like they did during the opening days of the Great Depression. Too bad he didnt cave before destroying all American prestige and good will in the world. He is challenging the very industries he wants to encourage by creating chaos and instability.
K. Hyman
April 11, 2025 at 7:47 am
The only thing he is competent at doing is creating chaos.
Skeptic
April 11, 2025 at 1:13 pm
There is an old Arab proverb (predates the discovery of America): The dog barks; the caravan moves on. Since inauguration until now: Dow down 8%; S&P down 12%; Nasdaq down 15%, Russell down 20%. So, some of the Make America poor Again crowd may have enjoyed the manipulation on Wednesday — if they were long term investors it helped ease the pain of their continuing losses. If they were gamblers, they always crow about the wins and try to forget the losses. The bond market doesn’t spin and doesn’t care.