JUST IN: Dow Closes 2,200 Points Down Amid Trump Tariff Selloff, Ending Worst Week Since 2020
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Stocks plummeted for a second straight day Friday with the Dow Jones down another 2,231 points, or 5.5% amid uncertainty about President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The drop ended the worst trading week since March 2020, when the Covid pandemic closed down much of the economy and sparked a selloff.
The Nasdaq and the S&P 500 both closed down 5.8% and 5.9%, respectively. Fears of a global trade war were made real on Friday as well when China announced a 34% tariff on all U.S. goods — matching Trump’s levy.
Trump unveiled a sweeping “reciprocal” tariff plan at an event at the White House on Wednesday, which investors reacted to by selling stocks en masse at the market open on Thursday morning.
The Dow closed Thursday down 11,679.39 points, or 3.98%. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq dropped 5.97% and the S&P 500 closed by 4.8%.
Trump has said that market uncertainty will be temprary and he expects a “boom” after the global economy adjusts to his shakeup on trade.
Wednesday, after he announced sweeping new tariffs on allies and adversaries alike, Trump wrote on his Truth Social account:
THE OPERATION IS OVER! THE PATIENT LIVED, AND IS HEALING. THE PROGNOSIS IS THAT THE PATIENT WILL BE FAR STRONGER, BIGGER, BETTER, AND MORE RESILIENT THAN EVER BEFORE. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!
Just before the market closed Friday, Trump wrote, “ONLY THE WEAK WILL FAIL!”
The Washington Post cited a source close to the president who claimed that with no more elections to win, he had reached the “peak of not giving a fuck” about bad press.
The Post reported that Trump’s attitude toward negative attention was directly tied to the economy and tariffs.
“He’s at the peak of just not giving a fuck anymore,” the person told the newspaper. “Bad news stories? Doesn’t give a fuck. He’s going to do what he’s going to do. He’s going to do what he promised to do on the campaign trail.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt downplayed the market downturn during an interview with CNN Thursday.
“To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say trust in President Trump,” she told the network. “This is a president who is doubling down on his proven economic formula from his first term.”