President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the dropping stock market is the fault of former President Joe Biden, adding that slow economic growth is from &#8220;the Biden overhang&#8221; and &#8220;has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS.&#8221;
Trump made the comment on <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114427089568235019" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Truth Social</a> as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&amp;P 500, and Nasdaq Composite all dipped again Wednesday morning. Since Trump&#8217;s massive tariff rollout, which began with hitting China, Canada, and Mexico in early February, the <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/djia?mod=mw_quote_switch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dow Jones</a> has dropped by around 5,000 points, the <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/comp?mod=mw_quote_switch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nasdaq</a> is down nearly 2,000 points, and the <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/index/spx?mod=mw_quote_switch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">S&amp;P 500</a> is down around 500 points.
&#8220;This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s. I didn’t take over until January 20th,&#8221; Trump said. &#8220;Tariffs will soon start kicking in, and companies are starting to move into the USA in record numbers. Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden &#8216;Overhang.&#8217; This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!&#8221;
The president has <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-tells-americans-to-be-patient-as-global-markets-keep-dropping-over-tariffs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">repeatedly</a> asked Americans to remain patient as his economic and trade policies take effect, but many Americans are still uneasy about how Trump&#8217;s tariffs will affect the U.S. economy. On Wednesday, a U.S. Department of Commerce report showed that gross domestic product fell at a 0.3% annualized pace over the first quarter of 2025, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/30/trump-gdp-tariffs-biden-overhang.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. It was the first quarter of negative growth since the first quarter of 2022.
The Commerce Department report pointed to Trump&#8217;s tariffs as a reason for the decline in GDP in Q1, as companies tried to get ahead of the tariffs by ramping up imports. The Trump administration&#8217;s cut to defense spending also contributed to the GDP slowdown.
In January 2024, Trump took credit for a rising stock market under former President Biden. In a Truth Social post, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/111840568643216314" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a>, &#8220;THIS IS THE TRUMP STOCK MARKET BECAUSE MY POLLS AGAINST BIDEN ARE SO GOOD THAT INVESTORS ARE PROJECTING THAT I WILL WIN, AND THAT WILL DRIVE THE MARKET UP.&#8221;
The stock market reacted positively last week after the Trump administration hinted that the trade war with China might be coming to an end. Last Tuesday, after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned against a prolonged trade war, Trump said the 145% tariff on China &#8220;will come down substantially, but it won’t be zero.&#8221; As the White House says that numerous countries are ready to make a trade deal, Trump is still trying to bring China to the negotiating table.

Donald Trump

Trump: This Is Biden’s Stock Market

Economy

Executive

Joe Biden

Politics

Stock Market

Tariffs

It’s not an exaggeration to say that conservative shareholder engagement is changing the corporate game. For years, Left-wing activists controlled the agendas at our largest companies, using not only their leverage as stockholders but their perpetual devotion to activism to get in the ear of America’s boards and directors. The result? Leftward drift in virtually every major company. But now conservative shareholders, from ordinary investors to major conservative nonprofits, are stepping into the game — and their engagements are bearing major fruit. The latest proof? IBM.
IBM’s track record on corporate bias and activism is notorious. The company was a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM), a group created by the World Federation of Advertisers that worked to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-daily-wire-addresses-the-ad-industry-following-the-fall-of-garm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">keep ad revenue away</a> from conservative news sites like the Daily Wire to free speech-centric platforms like X. And that’s before all the DEI concerns surfaced. After IBM CEO Arvind Krishna was caught on a <a href="https://x.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1734374423124176944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1734374423124176944%7Ctwgr%5E42e55266e59ec08d85550be6ab044097866bd072%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdallasexpress.com%2Fbusiness-markets%2Fceo-of-tech-corp-ibm-enshrines-dei-hiring%2F">hot mic</a> discussing how the company uses quotas of ‘underrepresented’ minorities in determining their executive pay — in Krishna’s words, execs have “got to move both [race and gender] forward by a percentage point” in order to get a higher bonus. That means DEI. That means quotas. Following these snafus, the reputational, ethical, and (in the case of the Missouri AG who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/missouri-attorney-general-sues-tech-giant-ibm-alleging-discrimination-against-whites-asians-men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sued</a> IBM) legal scrutiny was swift in coming.
IBM’s motto since its early years has been “THINK,” referring to the innovative spirit with which the company solves problems. Yet when it came to political bias, that motto was missing in action — and shareholders took notice. In January, the firm I work for, Bowyer Research, began <a href="https://www.heritage.org/press/heritage-foundation-expands-efforts-hold-corporate-america-accountable-end-its-discriminatory" target="_blank" rel="noopener">work</a> with the Heritage Foundation to hold IBM accountable for the DEI quotas that Krishna described. The argument? Simple — use of non-meritocratic quotas based on race and gender aren’t just bad for reputation, but illegal on their face and bad for business. Shareholders, from major nonprofits to ordinary mom-and-pop investors, shouldn’t have their business returns impacted by IBM’s belief in identity politics.
As the shareholder engagement heated up on the internal front, pressure from <a href="https://lunduke.locals.com/post/5515346/the-ibm-red-hat-leaks-what-weve-learned-so-far" target="_blank" rel="noopener">journalists</a> and <a href="https://x.com/robbystarbuck/status/1910425361034383545" target="_blank" rel="noopener">influencers</a> like Robby Starbuck increased on the external front. That pressure built and built — and the release began earlier this month, when IBM announced the end of many of its DEI initiatives and related goals, including the elimination of its diversity council, the phaseout of its supplier diversity initiatives, and no longer participating in surveys put out by radical corporate <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-radical-intolerance-behind-woke-corporate-activism" target="_blank" rel="noopener">activist groups</a> like the Human Rights Campaign, which pressures companies to cover puberty blocker access for employees’ children in the name of “health care access.”
That would have been news enough — until several days ago, when IBM also <a href="https://www.heritage.org/press/heritage-foundation-secures-commitment-viewpoint-neutrality-ibm-encourages-company" target="_blank" rel="noopener">agreed</a> to include viewpoint neutrality as part of its advertising policy in response to Heritage’s shareholder engagement. That means that biased, activist-driven, political censorship that ad cartels like GARM perpetuate is now explicitly banned under IBM corporate policy. IBM listened to its shareholders, its employees, and its customers — and the result is another company willing to make commitments to political neutrality. This is what happens when authentic shareholder advocacy, championing political neutrality, merges with external pressure to drop corporate bias: change happens, and happens in the form of concrete policy commitments, not just boilerplate PR statements. It’s a praiseworthy step.
But is the scrutiny over? Absolutely not. IBM needs to demonstrate that they’re committed to actually staying the course on being politically-neutral and quota-free. Outstanding questions remain. During our engagement on behalf of Heritage, the company <a href="https://www.sec.gov/files/corpfin/no-action/14a-8/heritageibm3325-14a8.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">notably claimed</a> to the SEC that they couldn’t give a definition of DEI as grounds to ignore shareholder concerns — so how did they go from not knowing what DEI is to getting rid of it? (You can probably guess how.) The company holds its annual meeting of shareholders today, and if they’re savvy will make a point of focusing their messaging on business, not activism.
Achieving the commitment to neutrality at IBM was the result of a myriad of groups, from shareholders like Heritage to <a href="https://adflegal.org/press-release/sec-sides-with-adf-denies-absurd-attempt-from-govt-contractor-ibm-to-hide-from-shareholders-on-dei-proposal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">legal giants</a> like Alliance Defending Freedom to the courageous IBM employees willing to speak out about the bias behind the scenes. And it’s going to take all of those groups to be vigilant now — not paying attention to our boardrooms is what got us into the woke mess in the first place.
This is the next phase of rooting out bias and wokeness from corporate America — watching tirelessly to see whether companies that commit to ditching DEI are actually willing to put their messaging and money where their mouths are. Smart companies will be willing to commit to change. Foolish ones will hope to either avoid scrutiny altogether or reintroduce the same tired DEI policies under the guise of <a href="https://www.shrm.org/executive-network/insights/time-to-add-b-for-belonging-to-workplace-dei-strategy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">phrases</a> like “belonging.” It’s our job, as shareholders, as customers, and as Americans, to keep up the pressure for accountability with the leverage that we’ve been given. And above all, to make the case for what truly makes every company successful: the courage to resist activism and the fortitude to focus on business.
* * *
Isaac Willour is an award-winning journalist focusing on race, culture, and American conservatism, as well as a corporate relations analyst at Bowyer Research. His work has been featured at outlets including USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times Opinion, C-SPAN, and The Daily Wire. He is a member of the Young Voices contributor program and can be found on X <a href="https://twitter.com/IsaacWillour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@IsaacWillour</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Traders On The Floor Of The New York Stock Exchange As Fed Chair Powell Holds New Conference

IBM Rolls Back DEI, Commits To Political Neutrality

Business

Diversity

Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Dow Jones

GARM

Heritage Foundation

Human Rights Campaign

Opinion

Robby Starbuck

Wall Street

Woke Culture

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) reintroduced the anti-corruption PELOSI Act on Friday, aiming to ban members of Congress from trading individual stocks, while President Trump signaled he would sign such legislation into law.
The legislation, whose acronym PELOSI stands for &#8220;Preventing Elected Leaders from Owning Securities and Investments,&#8221; and is named after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband has drawn <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/deceptive-tactic-nancy-pelosi-disclosed-180000159.html">scrutiny</a> for millions in suspected insider trading.
&#8220;Members of Congress should be fighting for the people they were elected to serve — not day trading at the expense of their constituents,&#8221; Hawley <a href="https://www.hawley.senate.gov/hawley-reintroduces-pelosi-act-to-ban-congress-from-trading-stocks/">stated</a>, according to a press release from his office.
&#8220;Americans have seen politician after politician turn a profit using information not available to the general public,&#8221; the Missouri Republican added. &#8220;It&#8217;s time we ban all members of Congress from trading and holding stocks and restore Americans&#8217; trust in our nation&#8217;s legislative body.&#8221;
Under Hawley&#8217;s proposal, elected officials and their spouses would be barred from owning individual stocks while serving in Congress.
The legislation would still allow investment in broader financial instruments such as mutual funds, ETFs, and Treasury bonds.
The bill provides a six-month grace period for compliance after enactment. Any lawmaker refusing to divest would face financial penalties and surrender profits to the federal treasury.
The Government Accountability Office would be required to audit congressional compliance with the law within two years of enactment and submit a report to congressional ethics committees, according to the <a href="https://www.hawley.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Hawley-PELOSI-Act.pdf">legislation</a>.
When asked on Friday by a reporter if he would support a ban on congressional stock trading, President Trump said he would “absolutely” sign such a bill.
&#8220;Well, I watched Nancy Pelosi get rich through insider information, and I would be okay with it. If they send that to me, I would do it,&#8221; the President said.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
It is time! Pass my PELOSI Act now &#8211; no stock trading by members of Congress <a href="https://t.co/w1enBmv0BG">https://t.co/w1enBmv0BG</a>
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) <a href="https://twitter.com/HawleyMO/status/1915759963386822771?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 25, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A 2022 New York Times investigation <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/09/13/us/politics/congress-members-stock-trading-list.html">identified</a> at least 97 members of Congress who reported stock trades that potentially intersected with their committee work, raising questions about whether elected officials were using privileged information to enrich themselves.
The issue has <a href="https://publicconsultation.org/united-states/stock-trading-by-members-of-congress/">garnered</a> bipartisan support for reform, with polls consistently showing over 80% of Americans favor banning congressional stock trading.
Similar legislation has been introduced in previous sessions of Congress but failed to advance to a floor vote in either chamber despite widespread public support.

119th Congress Begins Its Term On Capitol Hill

Sen. Hawley Reintroduces PELOSI Act To Curb Congressional Stock Trading, Trump Signals Approval

Congress

Corruption

Insider Trading

Josh Hawley

Nancy Pelosi

Paul Pelosi

United States stocks opened on a high note on Monday after President Donald Trump temporarily exempted American tech giants from some of his new reciprocal tariffs, sending shares of Apple and Dell soaring while providing relief to a market that had been rocked by tariff uncertainty.
The three major indexes all rose compared to last week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 421 points (1%), the S&amp;P 500 rising 1.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite gaining 1%, according to CNBC.
At their midday peaks, the Dow was up more than 500 points, and the Nasdaq was up 2.5% during the volatile trading session.
Investors welcomed the exemption of smartphones, computers, and semiconductor components from Trump&#8217;s new &#8220;reciprocal&#8221; tariffs, based on U.S. Customs and Border Protection guidance issued late Friday.
Apple shares <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/13/stock-market-today-live-updates.html">rose</a> 3% following the news at the opening bell, while Dell surged more than 4% as tech companies received immediate relief from the threatened tariffs.
&#8220;The market believes that the administration is probably in some sort of retreat from their most-extreme tariff proposal,&#8221; said Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management. &#8220;That&#8217;s incremental good news.&#8221;
The market is coming off one of its most volatile trading weeks on record, with the CBOE Volatility Index <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/.VIX/">spiking</a> above 50 on Thursday,
&#8220;Smartphones, chips being excluded is a game changer scenario when it comes to China tariffs,&#8221; said Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities. &#8220;I think ultimately Big Tech CEOs spoke loudly, and the White House had to understand and listen to the situation that this would have been Armageddon for big tech if were implemented.&#8221;
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett provided the market further assurances during a Fox Business interview, <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/media/trumps-trade-team-making-astonishing-progress-tariff-deals-multiple-offers-table-hassett">noting</a> that “more than 10” countries were already seeking “amazing” trade agreements to avoid the new levies.
Trump&#8217;s &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; tariffs <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-declares-national-emergency-to-increase-our-competitive-edge-protect-our-sovereignty-and-strengthen-our-national-and-economic-security/">aim</a> to, according to the White House, &#8220;strengthen the international economic position of the United States and protect American workers&#8221; and will remain in place until &#8220;President Trump determines that the threat posed by the trade deficit and underlying nonreciprocal treatment is satisfied, resolved, or mitigated.&#8221;
However, Trump <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114332337028519855">clarified</a> on Truth Social that these &#8220;exempted&#8221; products remain &#8220;subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff &#8216;bucket,'&#8221; suggesting the exemptions might not be permanent, and reigning in the optimism of some investors.
Despite the recent tech stock rally, many on Wall Street remain cautious about potential volatility in the coming weeks as further details of the administration&#8217;s trade policies emerge, particularly regarding permanent tariff structures and potential exemptions for other goods and sectors.

NYSE Opens Monday Morning After Volatile Week In The Markets

Dow Jumps 400+ Points After Trump Moves Smartphones, Computers To Different ‘Tariff Bucket’

Communist China

&#8220;The View&#8221; host Sunny Hostin claimed on Thursday that President Donald Trump&#8217;s comments on his Truth Social platform amounted to &#8220;insider trading&#8221; and were specifically coded to give a heads up to his billionaire friends.
Hostin argued that because Trump had recommended &#8220;buying&#8221; when the stock market dropped — amid turmoil over his &#8220;Liberation Day&#8221; tariffs — he had been signaling to billionaires that they should buy with the expectation that the market would shoot up again when he put them on hold.
&#8220;I gotta tell you, I think what&#8217;s fascinating to me is that the corruption is just completely out in the open at this point,&#8221; Hostin claimed. &#8220;You know, because these kinds of actions where Trump tweeted out before this li&#8217;l pause, he said, &#8216;This is a great time to buy.&#8217; And that&#8217;s really a whistle to those billionaires or people that have money that can buy low and then the stock market prices go up, that&#8217;s generally called insider trading and that would ordinarily trigger an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.&#8221;
&#8220;We know now that that&#8217;s not probably going to happen because all of these government agencies have been, you know, destroyed and dismantled,&#8221; Hostin continued. &#8220;But someone with knowledge of an economic policy change that would cause the markets to shoot back up right before posting about how great a time it is to buy right before the policy change happened would certainly be guilty of insider trading in my view.&#8221;
WATCH:
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Ana Navarro disagrees that it was strategic insider trading only because, &quot; if they&#39;re saying that this was all strategic then he is a sadist because what kind of government leader puts his people through this kind of distress and sadness and anxiety for a week just for giggles.&#39;… <a href="https://t.co/9cDFtgBLfV">pic.twitter.com/9cDFtgBLfV</a>
&mdash; Nicholas Fondacaro (@NickFondacaro) <a href="https://twitter.com/NickFondacaro/status/1910366005466890502?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Co-host Ana Navarro pushed back slightly, saying, &#8220;If they&#8217;re saying that this was all strategic, then he is a sadist because what kind of government leader puts his people through this kind of distress and sadness and anxiety for a week just for — you know, just for giggles. His supporters always say that he plays fourth-dimensional chess, I think he should be in a padded room.&#8221;

WHOOPI GOLDBERG, SARA HAINES, JOY BEHAR, SUNNY HOSTIN, ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN

‘The View’ Host Claims Trump’s Truth Social Posts Are Coded ‘Insider Trading’ Tips

'The View' Host Claims Trump's Truth Social Posts Are Coded 'Insider Trading' Tips

Media

Sunny Hostin

The View

Liberation Day. April 2, 2025. The Trump administration announced reciprocal tariffs on nearly ninety nations across the globe. The stock market tanked, impacted nations retaliated, businesses canceled their guidance to Wall Street, and the mainstream media began to try to talk the nation into a recession.
Many wondered just what Trump was trying to achieve. Now, to be fair, the Trump administration sent mixed messages about the purpose of the tariffs. Some said the tariffs were designed to drive manufacturing investment in the United States, indicating that the tariffs were here to stay. Others claimed that the tariffs were a means to force other nations to drop their tariffs on the United States. While others said that the tariffs were meant to force all nations to drop tariffs on American goods, reduce their trade surplus with the United States, and to cease all non-tariff barriers to free trade. 
The confusion as to the purpose of the tariffs created doubt about the off-ramp and Trump’s end game.
This uncertainty contributed to a significant market selloff, with the <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2025/04/09/stock-market-trump-tariffs-updates-wednesday/83002347007/">S&amp;P 500</a> shedding over $5.8 trillion in value by April 8.
Then, on April 9, President Trump dropped new tariff rates on <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/09/trump-announces-90-day-tariff-pause-for-at-least-some-countries.html">imports</a> from the majority of the United States’ trading partners to 10% for 90 days, allowing for trade negotiations to take place. Trump also announced that he was raising the tariffs on goods imported from China to 125%, “effective immediately.”
The market’s reaction was swift and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/08/stock-market-today-live-updates-.html">positive</a>. The S&amp;P rose more than 9.5%, its biggest one-day gain since World War II. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose nearly 7.9%, its biggest percentage gain since March 2020. The Nasdaq Composite rose 12.2%, its largest one-day increase since January 2001. Approximately 30 billion shares traded hands, making it the heaviest volume day on Wall Street in history.
Amid the market surge, one key development received little attention: Trump designated U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to lead the trade negotiations to resolve the tariff issues.
Trump is showing excellent leadership skills with the decision to allow Bessent to lead the negotiations instead of trying to lead them himself. Bessent is level-headed and a serious negotiator. He understands markets and the benefits of free trade. More importantly, it keeps the nuclear option of negotiating with Trump in the administration’s back pocket. Bessent can say, “you had better find a way to get a deal done with me, or you will have to negotiate directly with the president, and he will reinstate the tariffs during the negotiations.”
The tariff war of 2025 is barely a week old, and President Trump is poised to win but he needs to be disciplined enough to take the win.
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Secretary Bessent needs to be able to reach agreements in principle with the nation’s trading partners, extending the tariff freeze with any nation that drops their tariffs on the United States and agrees to negotiate in good faith to reduce other non-tariff trade barriers. These agreements are complex and thousands of pages long. Trump and the administration must be willing to use the carrot with the same vigor as they have used the stick.
The win for Trump and his team will come if Secretary Bessent can announce agreements in principle with a number of trading partners in the next week, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam, for example. The tariff freeze with these countries must be extended indefinitely, as long as active negotiations are on-going.
This will signal to our trading partners, and more importantly, the market, that the United States is serious about getting deals done. The stock market will rise, interest rates will come down, and, most importantly, consumers will have the confidence to spend, avoiding a recession.
Trump’s book, &#8220;The Art of the Deal&#8221; was written decades ago, but the principles he espoused in the 1980’s still apply today.
* * *
Jim Nelles is a Navy veteran and supply chain consultant based in Chicago. His articles have appeared in the Washington Examiner, Newsweek, Foxnews.com, and the Daily Wire. He has served as a chief procurement officer, chief supply chain officer, and chief operations officer for multiple companies.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-TRUMP-RETURN

Don’t Doubt The Art Of The Deal

Don't Doubt The Art Of The Deal

China

President Trump

Trade War

The American stock market quickly rebounded on Wednesday afternoon after President Donald Trump announced that he was pausing his reciprocal “Liberation Day” tariffs on all countries except China. 
Responding to Trump’s announcement, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&amp;P 500, and Nasdaq had all climbed above their Tuesday close by early Wednesday afternoon. Before the surge, Trump said on Truth Social that he was raising tariffs on China to 125% and lowering tariffs across the rest of the board to 10%, pausing the steeper reciprocal hikes. 
After the news, the Dow Jones jumped up to 40,179, a six percent increase on the day and higher than its 37,645 close on Tuesday. The S&amp;P 500 climbed to 5,388, an eight percent increase on the day, and higher than its Tuesday close of 4,982. The Nasdaq jumped up to 16,830, a 10% increase on the day and higher than its Tuesday close of 15,267.
In his <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114309144289505174" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announcement</a>, Trump said that he was implementing a 10% tariff on all imports coming into the U.S. and a 125% tariff on China because of their retaliatory action. 
“Based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs, and that these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately,” Trump said. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
That announcement came hours after Trump posted on Truth Social that “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY” and “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!”
China announced earlier on Wednesday that it was imposing additional retaliatory tariffs of 50% on the United States starting Thursday, bringing its total tariff on American imports to 84%. Chinese officials accused the United States of being a bully and violating international trade law. 
Top Trump administration officials celebrated the announcement from Trump, saying that it was an effective strategy to target China.
&#8220;President Trump’s master strategy, bold statesmanship and brilliant tactical planning has done more to reform broken international trade in days than anyone has achieved in decades while economically and politically isolating the global architect of economic aggression: China,&#8221; White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller <a href="https://x.com/StephenM/status/1910036581861236901">posted</a> on X.

TOPSHOT-US-POLITICS-TRUMP

Market Surges After Trump Hits Back At China, Pauses Other ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs

A listener to my show asked me two questions regarding Trump’s tariffs.
First, why should he care about the stock market dropping? He added that, like the majority of the middle and lower class, he had no stocks whatsoever.
Second, I previously stated that if President Trump laid out exactly what his goals were with the tariffs, his strategy might work. The listener asked how that could be true since Trump would be telling everyone he was basically bluffing, thereby losing all leverage.
To begin with, 62% of Americans own stocks in some way, shape, or form. You may not be in the stock market or own stocks at all. The truth is, however, that there has never been a time in American history where there was a massive drop in the stock market that did not have a spillover effect on Main Street.
Why?
Because one of the ways that capital markets work is the issuing of new stock. If you can&#8217;t issue new stock because nobody is buying it, then no additional capital. The market is both a way to make money — because you can own a piece of a company — and also a good symptomatic examination of what&#8217;s happening.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2175-member-exclusive?row=0&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Carousel&amp;rowHeadline=The+Ben+Shapiro+Show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
The stock market is a bleeding edge indicator of what comes next in the economy. The stock market is a giant pool of capital that is deciding whether to invest or disinvest in business.
The stock market is like a scale. It&#8217;s like saying, “Well, you know, I don&#8217;t use scales, so whether I&#8217;m fat or whether I&#8217;m skinny doesn&#8217;t really matter because I don&#8217;t use scales.&#8221;
The scale is just a measurement technique.
As far as the second point, I don&#8217;t understand why. It doesn’t have to be a bluff. He could say, “Listen, I&#8217;m going to 25% tariffs on you unless you go to zero,” and then do it. Why does he have to bluff? We have the cards. Why do we have to bluff? You bluff when you don&#8217;t have the cards?
So why don&#8217;t you just say it? You can say to the Vietnamese, “Listen, we&#8217;re going to put a 15% tariff on your goods because we don&#8217;t like what you&#8217;re doing. Come to the table and deal or we’re doing it.” What&#8217;s Vietnam going to do? They&#8217;re trying to deal now. Why are you bluffing when you have four aces?
It makes no sense at all. Don&#8217;t bluff when you have four aces. Just say, “I have four aces. Let&#8217;s negotiate.” President Trump did this with Zelensky.
I don&#8217;t understand why we&#8217;re not doing it with everybody.

Traders On The Floor Of The NYSE As US Stocks Rally Most Since 2022 On Trade Deal Hopes

Two Questions On Tariffs

Ben Shapiro

Vietnam

It appears many traders are betting that things are going to continue to be really, really chaotic in the world of tariffs. The biggest problem, however, is that the Trump administration has not made it clear what exactly they want to accomplish with these tariffs.
This has been my point. There are times when tariffs can be useful. In fact, of the three times tariffs could theoretically be useful, two could actually be useful.
First: Tariffs are important to protect vital industries such as defense industries. You need to produce those goods here at home instead of producing them elsewhere. Thus, you actually protect and give what are effectively artificial subsidies to American defense industries. That is totally understandable.
Second: Using tariffs to leverage other countries, either because those countries are our enemies and we want to do harm to them, or because we wish to get other countries to lower their own tariffs. In the end, the goal is a lower-tariff regime.
But there&#8217;s the third possibility, one that is retailed by President Trump and many other members of his administration. Of all of the various rationales given for the tariffs, this is the most problematic and currently roiling the markets.
Third: Tariffs are good and trade wars are good and easy to win. Tariffs will make us rich; ignoring the fact that they are a tax on American consumers.
The idea that tariffs are inherently good and make the American economy strong is wrongheaded. It is untrue. The idea that these tariffs will result in mass reshoring of manufacturing is also untrue.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2174-member-exclusive?row=0&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Carousel&amp;rowHeadline=The+Ben+Shapiro+Show" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
And this is why Bill Ackman, investor extraordinaire and ally to President Trump, put out <a href="https://x.com/BillAckman/status/1908992002366292286">a statement</a> over the weekend. He said: 
<blockquote>The country is 100% behind the president on fixing a global system of tariffs that has disadvantaged the country. But, business is a confidence game and confidence depends on trust. President @realDonaldTrump has elevated the tariff issue to the most important geopolitical issue in the world, and he has gotten everyone’s attention. So far, so good. And yes, other nations have taken advantage of the U.S. by protecting their home industries at the expense of millions of our jobs and economic growth in our country. But, by placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business, and as a market to invest capital. </blockquote>
Here&#8217;s what Ackman is basically saying to Trump: Take a time-out, figure out what it is that you want to do here.
Ackman continued: 
<blockquote>The president has an opportunity to call a 90-day time out, negotiate and resolve unfair asymmetric tariff deals, and induce trillions of dollars of new investment in our country. If, on the other hand, on April 9th we launch economic nuclear war on every country in the world, business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate.
What CEO and what board of directors will be comfortable making large, long-term, economic commitments in our country in the middle of an economic nuclear war? I don’t know of one who will do so.
When markets crash, new investment stops, consumers stop spending money, and businesses have no choice but to curtail investment and fire workers. And it is not just the big companies that will suffer. Small and medium size businesses and entrepreneurs will experience much greater pain. Almost no business can pass through an overnight massive increase in costs to their customers. And that’s true even if they have no debt, and, unfortunately, there is a massive amount of leverage in the system.
Business is a confidence game. The president is losing the confidence of business leaders around the globe. The consequences for our country and the millions of our citizens who have supported the president — in particular low-income consumers who are already under a huge amount of economic stress — are going to be severely negative. This is not what we voted for.
The President has an opportunity on Monday to call a time out and have the time to execute on fixing an unfair tariff system. Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down. May cooler heads prevail.</blockquote>
The problem here is a vast combination of radical uncertainty and overtly bad policy being spouted by members of the administration. There is no one in the administration who&#8217;s making the overtly good case. There are many people in the administration, however, who are making bad to strained cases right now.
Over the weekend, Trump put out <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114285375813275308">a statement</a> on Truth Social writing:
<blockquote>THIS IS AN ECONOMIC REVOLUTION, AND WE WILL WIN. HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy, but the end result will be historic. We will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!</blockquote>
But the words “hang tough” scare the living daylights out of the entire market because “hang tough” sets up a lengthy, significant period of tariffs. If that is to happen, we&#8217;re getting all the consequences. Basically, it melts down the markets. If you&#8217;re talking about these tariff rates on countries maintained as they currently stand, if they are implemented just a few days from now, you are talking about an economic catastrophe.
And even if on the other end there is a brand new world, we still have not heard what exactly that brand new world looks like. Is that a brand new world where we are reshoring manual labor from Vietnam to make T-shirts? This is the confusion.
No one knows what is actually going on. People like Bill Ackman are hopeful that this is a sort of 4D chess game in order to leverage other countries to open up their tariffs. If that&#8217;s the case, it sounds great. We can get there if the final policy is good.
In the meantime, we can all hope and pray that’s what this chess game is.

Markets Open Monday Morning After Plummeting Prior Week On Tariff News

Market Sell-Off Continues: What’s Next?

Bill Ackman

Economics

For the third consecutive day of trading following President Donald Trump&#8217;s tariff rollout, U.S. stock indexes dipped as Wall Street anxiously awaits the result of the president&#8217;s aggressive move.
The Dow Jones ended Monday down 349 points (0.9%) while the S&amp;P 500 dropped 0.2%, which was a big recovery from earlier in the day when it was down 4.7% at its low. The Nasdaq was down 3% earlier on Monday, but ended the day up 0.1% thanks to investors going in on tech stocks, such as Nvidia and Palantir.
Trading was a rollercoaster ride early in the day as stocks suddenly skyrocketed following a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-shoots-down-reports-claiming-trump-considering-tariff-pause?row=0&amp;elementPosition=4&amp;rowType=Vertical+List&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;title=White+House+Shoots+Down+Reports+Claiming+Trump+Considering+Tariff+Pause&amp;category=News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">false report</a> that spread on social media claiming that President Donald Trump was considering a 90-day tariff reprieve. The Dow Jones saw a record swing, dropping by more than 1,700 points in the morning before going up 2,595 points. The S&amp;P 500 swung from down 4.7% to up 3.4% during morning trading.
After the dramatic swing on Wall Street Monday morning, investors became uneasy again when Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-gives-china-deadline-to-remove-retaliatory-tariff-or-face-additional-50?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;row=1&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;title=Trump+Gives+China+Deadline+To+Remove+Retaliatory+Tariff+Or+Face+Additional+50%25&amp;category=News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">threatened</a> to hit China with an additional 50% tariff after the communist country levied a 34% retaliatory tariff on the United States on Friday. Trump gave China a deadline of Tuesday “to withdraw” its retaliatory tariff on the United States before he moves forward with more tariffs. If the additional 50% tariff goes into effect, it would be added onto the 34% tariff imposed by Trump last week, which was put in place on top of a 20% levy the president imposed on China shortly after taking office.
Apple shares fell by over 5% in response to increased trade tensions with China and ended the day down <a href="https://www.cnn.com/markets" target="_blank" rel="noopener">3.7%</a>. Tesla was also down 2.6%, and Amazon climbed 2.5%.
While Wall Street remains wary of the impending global trade war, many countries appear willing to come to the negotiating table to avoid Trump&#8217;s hefty tariffs. On Monday, the European Union <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/e-u-ready-to-negotiate-with-trump-offers-zero-for-zero-tariffs-on-industrial-goods?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;row=1&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;title=E.U.+%E2%80%98Ready+To+Negotiate%E2%80%99+With+Trump%2C+Offers+%E2%80%98Zero-For-Zero+Tariffs+On+Industrial+Goods%E2%80%99&amp;category=News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> it offered the United States &#8220;zero-for-zero tariffs for industrial goods,&#8221; and Trump held &#8220;a very constructive phone discussion&#8221; with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
Following Trump&#8217;s call with Ishiba, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-golden-age-of-global-trade-bessent-opens-negotiations-with-japan-following-trumps-tariffs?row=3&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;title=%E2%80%98New+Golden+Age+Of+Global+Trade%E2%80%99%3A+Bessent+Opens+Negotiations+With+Japan+Following+Trump%E2%80%99s+Tariffs&amp;category=News&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he will meet with Japanese leaders to seek out a new trade agreement. Trump also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-revives-possible-sale-of-u-s-steel-to-japans-nippon-steel?row=3&amp;elementPosition=3&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;author=Tim+Pearce&amp;title=Trump+Revives+Possible+Sale+Of+U.S.+Steel+To+Japan%E2%80%99s+Nippon+Steel&amp;category=News&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ordered</a> a new review of the possible sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel.
“Japan remains among America’s closest allies, and I look forward to our upcoming productive engagement regarding tariffs, non-tariff trade barriers, currency issues, and government subsidies,” Bessent said. “I appreciate the Japanese government’s outreach and measured approach to this process.”
On Monday afternoon, Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/netanyahu-pledges-to-eliminate-israels-trade-deficit-with-u-s-in-hopes-of-avoiding-tariffs?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;row=1&amp;elementPosition=1&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;author=Kassy+Akiva&amp;title=Netanyahu+Pledges+To+Eliminate+Israel%E2%80%99s+Trade+Deficit+With+U.S.+In+Hopes+Of+Avoiding+Tariffs&amp;category=News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">met</a> with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, where Netanyahu pledged to &#8220;eliminate the trade deficit with the United States &#8230; very quickly.&#8221; The meeting took place after Trump hit Israel with a 17% tariff.
According to Treasury Secretary Bessent, &#8220;Over 50 countries have responded both openly and positively to @POTUS @realDonaldTrump’s historic action to create a fairer, more prosperous system of global trade.&#8221;
&#8220;We look forward to meaningful negotiations with them over the coming weeks,&#8221; Bessent added.

Stocks Fall For Third Straight Day As Trump Barrels Through Tariff Fight

European Union

Japan

U.S.

The White House said on Monday that reports claiming President Donald Trump was moving toward a 90-day pause on tariffs are &#8220;wrong.&#8221;
After National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett discussed Trump&#8217;s tariffs during an interview on Fox News, reports falsely stated that Hassett revealed the president was considering a pause on all tariffs except those imposed on China. The claim was spread by numerous X accounts with large followings and was also discussed on <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/1909250858044313876" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CNBC</a>, sparking a short-lived spike in the stock market on Monday morning.
A White House official told Daily Wire White House Correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan that reports of a tariff pause are fake news.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
White House official tells me this is fake news. Tweet has also been deleted: <a href="https://t.co/Y9K0MEVj1X">pic.twitter.com/Y9K0MEVj1X</a>
&mdash; Mary Margaret Olohan (@MaryMargOlohan) <a href="https://twitter.com/MaryMargOlohan/status/1909256397306331146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
&#8220;Wrong. Not only did Director Hassett not say this (clip below), @POTUS has been clear — &#8216;it all has to change, but especially with CHINA!!!'&#8221; the White House&#8217;s Rapid Response X account stated.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Wrong. Not only did Director Hassett not say this (clip below), <a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> has been clear — &quot;it all has to change, but especially with CHINA!!!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/3Kvt8AScAZ">https://t.co/3Kvt8AScAZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/JHucHjZm3S">pic.twitter.com/JHucHjZm3S</a>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1909254335822692548?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Reports of a tariff pause began swirling after billionaire hedge fund manager and Trump backer Bill Ackman urged the president &#8220;to call a 90-day time out, negotiate and resolve unfair asymmetric tariff deals, and induce trillions of dollars of new investment in our country.&#8221;
&#8220;If, on the other hand, on April 9th we launch economic nuclear war on every country in the world, business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate,&#8221; Ackman <a href="https://x.com/BillAckman/status/1908992002366292286" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote</a> on X.
When asked about Ackman&#8217;s comments and a possible pause on tariffs during his interview on &#8220;<a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6371175485112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox &amp; Friends</a>,&#8221; Hassett replied, &#8220;The president is going to decide what the president is going to decide.&#8221;
&#8220;There are more than 50 countries in negotiation with the president,&#8221; Hassett added. &#8220;We&#8217;ve got the prime minister of Israel coming today. We&#8217;ve had a reach-out overnight from Taiwan, but I would urge everyone, especially Bill, to ease off the rhetoric a little bit. &#8230; The idea that it&#8217;s going to be a nuclear winter or something like that is completely irresponsible rhetoric.&#8221;
In a <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114296801411259400" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post</a> on Truth Social Monday morning, Trump again asked Americans to be patient as his tariffs on nearly every country in the world go into effect.
&#8220;The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO. Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!),&#8221; Trump wrote. &#8220;Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!&#8221;

White House Shoots Down Reports Claiming Trump Considering Tariff Pause

Fake News

China responded to President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs on Friday by announcing a 34% tariff on all goods imported from the United States. 
The move comes after Trump unveiled a host of tariffs against countries all over the world, including a 34% tariff on China, where about 16% of goods imported into America come from. Trump has said the tariffs are necessary to rebuild American industry and rectify longstanding trade imbalances. 
In a statement on Friday, the Chinese Ministry of Finance accused the United States of violating international trade rules with the tariffs. 
“The U.S. practice is inconsistent with international trade rules, seriously undermines China&#8217;s legitimate rights and interests, and is a typical unilateral bullying practice that not only undermines the interests of the United States itself, but also endangers global economic development and the stability of the production and supply chain,” the ministry said, according to a translation.
China’s tariff on all “goods originating from” America will go into effect on April 10. 
“China urges the United States to immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and resolve trade differences through consultation in an equal, respectful and mutually beneficial manner,” the ministry added. 
In another action targeting the United States, China put export controls on seven different types of rare earth minerals, placed 11 American companies on its “unreliable entities list,” and added export restrictions on 16 more American companies, CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/04/china-to-impose-34percent-retaliatory-tariff-on-all-goods-imported-from-the-us.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. 
Like Thursday, stocks again tumbled on Friday after China announced its retaliatory tariff, with the Dow Jones falling 1,679 points and the S&amp;P 500 falling 274 points. 
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/white-house-urges-americans-to-trust-in-president-trump-as-uncertainty-looms-over-tariffs?topStoryPosition=undefined&amp;row=1&amp;elementPosition=0&amp;rowType=Top+Stories&amp;rowHeadline=Top+Stories&amp;author=Zach+Jewell&amp;title=White+House+Urges+Americans+To+‘Trust+In+President+Trump’+As+Uncertainty+Looms+Over+Tariffs&amp;category=News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Thursday that Americans worried about the economy should “trust President Trump.” 
“This is a president who is doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term. We saw wages increase. We saw inflation come down,” she said. “We had a Trump energy boom. We had the largest tax cuts in history, and that’s exactly what the president intends to do.”
Trump argues that foreign nations have been &#8220;ripping off the United States for the last 40 years and more,&#8221; imposing harsh tariffs on U.S. exports while gaining free access to the American market. 
“My fellow Americans, this is Liberation Day,” Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/trump-unleashes-liberation-day-tariffs?row=3&amp;elementPosition=44&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;author=Daniel+Chaitin&amp;title=Trump+Unleashes+‘Liberation+Day’+Tariffs&amp;category=News&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> on Wednesday. &#8220;April 2, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again.”

President Trump Holds “Make America Wealthy Again Event” In White House Rose Garden

China Responds To Trump’s ‘Liberation Day,’ Announces 34% Retaliatory Tariff On All U.S. Imports

Free Trade

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