Latest News: President Donald Trump on Wednesday sought to calm nerves amid escalating market turmoil sparked by the ongoing trade war, urging investors to “BE COOL” just minutes after the New York Stock Exchange opened…..Read More 👇

Trump Urges Investors to “BE COOL” as Trade War Fuels Market Turmoil

April 9, 2025 – President Donald Trump sought to reassure jittery investors on Wednesday morning,
posting “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well” on Truth Social just three minutes after the New York Stock Exchange opened to yet another day of declines.

The message comes as escalating trade tensions, driven by Trump’s aggressive tariff policies, continue to roil global financial markets, raising fears of an impending recession.

The U.S. stock market has been on a rollercoaster ride since the Trump administration rolled out sweeping tariffs targeting major trading partners, including Canada, Mexico, and China.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged over 1,500 points, while the S&P 500 slipped into bear market territory—down more than 20% from its February peak—before partially recovering.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq has also taken a beating, hovering near a 20% decline from its December high.

Wednesday’s opening bell offered little reprieve, with U.S. stock index futures dropping sharply after China announced retaliatory tariffs on American goods overnight.

Trump’s latest tariffs, announced last week in a high-profile Rose Garden event dubbed “Liberation Day,” impose a baseline 10% duty on imports from all countries, with higher rates—up to 50%—targeting specific nations like China.

The president has framed these measures as a necessary “medicine” to reset America’s trade relationships and address long-standing deficits, particularly with China.

“Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” Trump told reporters on Sunday, shrugging off concerns about the market sell-off that has erased trillions in stock value since early March.

A Trade War Escalates
The latest salvo in Trump’s trade war came Monday when he threatened an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods if Beijing did not retract its own retaliatory 34% duties by April 8—a deadline China ignored.

In response, China imposed new tariffs on U.S. exports like chicken, pork, and beef, effective April 10, further intensifying the tit-for-tat conflict between the world’s two largest economies.

The European Union is also preparing countermeasures, while Canada and Mexico have already enacted retaliatory levies on billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. goods.

Global markets have not been spared. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index plummeted 7.9% on Monday, its worst day in years, while Europe’s Stoxx 600 index shed over 4%. Analysts warn that the deepening trade war could push economies like Canada and Mexico into recession and stall growth in the eurozone.

In the U.S., Goldman Sachs recently raised its recession probability for the next 12 months to 35%, up from 20%, citing the tariffs as a key driver of uncertainty.

Wall Street’s “Fear Gauge” Spikes
On Wall Street, the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX)—often called the “fear gauge”—surged 40% this week, hitting its highest level since the 2022 inflation crisis.

Investors have scrambled for safe-haven assets like U.S. Treasuries and the Japanese yen, while riskier assets like Bitcoin have tumbled, dropping below $78,000. “

The market is saying this isn’t just bad economics, it’s bad mathematics,” Michael Block, a strategist at Third Seven Capital, told CNN, criticizing the administration’s tariff calculations as defying economic logic.

Despite the chaos, Trump remains defiant. “This is a great time to get rich, richer than ever before!!!” he posted on Truth Social Friday, casting the market downturn as a buying opportunity.

On Wednesday, he doubled down, urging calm and projecting confidence that his policies would ultimately prevail.