President Donald Trump said he was not tracking a fall in the stock market Thursday as he met with his Cabinet secretaries amid worsening trade tensions with China.
“I haven’t seen it because I’ve been here for 2½ hours,” Trump said in response to a reporter's question about the market.
He then punted to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who was seated opposite him.
“Up two, down one is not a bad ratio, or up 10, down five,” Bessent then answered. “And I think, as we have talked about, as we go through the queue and settle with these countries who are going to bring us their best offers, we will end up in a place of great certainty over the next 90 days on tariffs."
Shortly after 1:30 p.m., Bessent said, “I don’t see anything unusual today.”
All three major U.S. stock indexes closed down Thursday, with declines of 2.5% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average, 4.31% for the Nasdaq Composite and 3.46% for the S&P 500.
Trump had urged the public to “BE COOL!” on social media Wednesday as markets tumbled, and he dubbed fearful Republicans “panicans.”
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On Wednesday, major U.S. stock indexes surged on the news that Washington had temporarily reduced most of the tariffs that had taken place hours earlier, just not for China. The Trump administration increased tariffs on Chinese goods to 145% after Beijing imposed retaliatory tariffs.
A 10% baseline levy for other countries remains, and Trump said he plans to use revenue from tariffs to help pay down the national debt, reduce taxes, finish the southern border wall and more.
Also at the Cabinet meeting was Elon Musk, who has broken with Trump on trade, saying recently that he wants to a “zero-tariff situation” and feuding publicly with pro-tariff adviser Peter Navarro. Musk, a forceful presence at earlier gatherings of Trump’s Cabinet, spoke briefly about the administration’s Department of Government Efficiency cost-cutting initiatives as Trump called on his advisers around the table, but he did not discuss tariffs.
Trump's tariffs announcement April 2 sparked a week of economic turmoil as fears of a trade war grew sharply. Trump said Wednesday that he began considering a change in course after having spoken with Bessent and other top economic advisers “over the last few days."
When they formulated the announcement early in the morning, he said, no lawyers were on hand. “I just wrote it up. ... We wrote it up from our hearts, right?” Trump said. “It was written as something that I think was very positive for the world and for us, and we don’t want to hurt countries that don’t need to be hurt, and they all want to negotiate.”
The changes, announced on social media, prompted a massive market rally after days of turbulence. He said his eventual reversal as, in part, a response to people “getting a little bit yippie, a little bit afraid.” Some of his advisers had reached a near panic about the bond markets shortly before his announcement, according to a senior administration official.
As Trump went around the table Thursday, his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, commented on the collaboration among Cabinet members, saying that "they deserve a lot of credit," drawing Trump's praise.
But Trump also warned Thursday that if deals are not reached with individual countries on trade issues, higher tariffs will come back for them. Asked whether he would extend the period of reduced tariffs after the 90-day negotiating period was up, he declined to say.
Trump said that discussions are underway toward potential agreements with other countries and that he is "very close" to a first deal — but that he feels no urgency to strike one for the sake of it. He and his advisers have said dozens of countries have reached out to negotiate with the United States in the wake of his tariff rollout.
Asked whether he has spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump said he did not want to say. He instead played down the escalating trade war with Beijing, saying he believes the United States will reach a deal “that’s very good for both countries.”
During the meeting, Trump acknowledged that his tariffs will pose “transition problems” but said that ultimately, “it’s going to be a beautiful thing.”
“We’re doing again what we should have done many years ago,” he added.