As US financial markets plunge to new lows, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday morning that his sweeping tariffs against nearly every country were now in force and insisted that the US economy would come out “far stronger,” even as global markets reacted negatively.
“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,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform less than an hour before Wall Street opened for trading.
US stock markets tumbled on Thursday as investors assessed the impact of Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on the country’s trading partners, signaling a major shift in global trade.
All three major US stock indexes opened in the red. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 4.5 per cent, while the S&P 500 and Dow dropped 3.4 per cent and 2.7 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, the US dollar hit a six-month low, sliding at least 2.2 per cent against other major currencies in early Thursday trading.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also sought to calm Wall Street concerns, telling CNN, “To anyone on Wall Street this morning, I would say, ‘Trust in President Trump.’ This is a president who is doubling down on his proven economic formula.”
She defended the tariffs—an across-the-board 10% levy on imports, with even higher duties targeting dozens of specific countries, including top US trading partners—stating that “the United States is no longer going to be cheated by foreign nations.”
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No negotiations on tariffs
Leavitt also signaled that there would be no reversal or adjustments to the tariffs before they take effect over the weekend.
“The president made it clear yesterday this is not a negotiation,” she said.
“He’s always willing to pick up the phone to answer calls, but he laid out the case yesterday for why we are doing it,” she added.
She further justified the move, arguing that “these countries around the world have had 70 years to do the right thing by the American people and they have chosen not to. They have ripped off American workers. They have taken our jobs overseas. The president is putting an end to that yesterday.”
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