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Recent weeks have seen constant changes in policy from the White House, making it difficult to trust anything said at face value. A prime example is President Donald Trump’s relationship with Canada and Mexico, which rapidly shifted from confirmed, to mostly off, and then potentially back on. Simultaneously, the President supported Elon Musk’s ability to dismiss government employees during a speech filled with exaggerations and falsehoods. However, two days later, after an urgent Cabinet meeting, Trump placed some limitations on Musk.
Even in this chaotic period in Washington, one Trump statement was particularly unbelievable. “I’m not even looking at the market,” the President said on Thursday, a statement that surprised even his supporters.
One senior Republican aide summarized the general sentiment in D.C. with an eye-roll emoji in a message. Another Republican who previously worked in the Trump administration suggested the situation felt surreal.
This is a President who, during his first term, frequently used Wall Street as a measure of the economy’s strength and his own success. “That big Stock Market increase must be credited to me,” Trump stated in a tweet in 2019. “If Hillary won – a Big Crash!”
Despite Trump’s recent claims about not paying attention to the market when questioned about his tariff policies, his administration relies heavily on the markets, and currently, the market is declining.
Friday’s jobs report was intended to help Wall Street recover after its gains since Trump’s election quickly disappeared. The Nasdaq, which is heavily weighted toward technology stocks, is now down 10% from its peak on December 16, a record Trump once highlighted. The Dow is down more than 5%. Anxious investors have put the markets on track for their worst week since September. As an advisor to the financial sector put it: “We are exhausted, and it’s still Q1.”
The jobs report was viewed as disappointing. The U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs, but unemployment rose to 4.1%. These figures were slightly below expectations, but the main concern was the absence of data on the recent firings and downsizing of federal employees. The report also failed to offset the anxiety caused by the tariff situation, which is undermining confidence in future investments.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the “Trump Bump” that followed his second term victory has become a “Trump Slump.” A significant amount of wealth created since Election Day has been lost just this week.
The duration of this downturn is uncertain. Friday’s jobs report adds to Trump’s economic record, the ultimate impact of which remains to be seen.
Investors are increasingly frustrated by the unreliability of information coming from Trump’s inner circle. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick initially stated that the tariffs would remain, only to be contradicted by Trump, who suggested they would be delayed. Then, on Friday, Trump revived the tariffs and announced a 250% tariff on Canadian dairy and timber.
Much of this market instability stems from Trump’s unpredictable nature and the influence of figures like Musk. Many government contractors are now constantly checking Musk’s DOGE account to see if they will be paid for completed work.
While Washington may be gradually adapting to the inconsistent nature of the White House, Wall Street is not. The situation has become a constant crisis, with market-moving decisions being made and reversed rapidly. Furthermore, the official jobs report has yet to reflect the impact of cuts across federal agencies, or the potential effects of service degradations, such as food safety inspections or weather forecasting, on the U.S. and global economy. We are all on this merry-go-round watching as the people who keep it running smoothly are being removed.
Make sense of what matters in Washington. .
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