On Friday, as markets slid sharply in the United States and elsewhere, Donald Trump used his social media platform to amplify a deeply odd video. As Rolling Stone summarized:
On Friday morning, the president shared a link on Truth Social to what appears to be a video claiming that he was “Purposely CRASHING The Market.” The one-minute video — originally shared March 15 on TikTok — predates the president’s tariff announcement on Wednesday. It claims that “Trump is crashing the stock market by 20 percent this month, but he’s doing it on purpose.”
The video — which the White House did not create, but which the president nevertheless decided to promote — described Trump’s tariffs as “a genius play,” which enjoys the support of billionaire investor Warren Buffett.
Soon after, Buffett’s company, Berkshire Hathaway, issued a statement describing the comments attributed to Buffett as “false.”
But just as notable was the circumstances themselves: The president thought it’d be a good idea to amplify a video that said Trump was trying to undermine markets on purpose, as part of an convoluted and dangerous strategy that really didn’t make any sense.
On Saturday, the Republican amplified the same video again — he even briefly pinned it to the top of his feed, ensuring greater attention — which naturally raised some uncomfortable questions about whether markets were falling off a cliff or if Trump was deliberately pushing markets off a cliff.
Kevin Hassett, the head of the White House National Economic Council, appeared on ABC News’ “This Week,” and insisted, in reference to the president, “He’s not trying to tank the market,” notwithstanding the fact that Trump promoted an online video that said he’s trying to tank the market.
When host George Stephanopoulos reminded Hassett about the video, the White House economist said Trump is “allowed to have an opinion.” That’s certainly true in a general sense, but when the president responsible for creating an economic crisis amplifies a video that suggested he’s forcing markets lower on purpose, the fact that he’s entitled to opinions is irrelevant.
Hours after Hassett’s on-air appearance, Trump fielded some questions aboard Air Force One — en route to the nation’s capital after a weekend of golfing in Florida — and a reporter asked about whether there a pain “threshold” that might lead him to alter course.
“I think your question is so stupid,” the president responded. “I don’t want anything to go down. But sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”
Of course, there was nothing “stupid” about the question: Trump is the one whose agenda sent markets reeling, and Trump is also the one who promoted an online video that suggested he was pushing markets lower on purpose.
As for the idea that tariffs constitute an economic “medicine,” it’s worth noting that (a) the economy wasn’t sick; and (b) medicines, when properly prescribed by those who know what they’re doing, don’t make patients worse.
As part of the same Q&A, the Republican added that he didn’t want to force a market selloff, despite the video that he appeared to endorse that said the opposite.
It’s almost as if Trump were trying to undermine public confidence in his competence.
