Trump: Stock drop amid good news a ‘big mistake’
Michael D. Shear and Alan Rappeport
President Donald Trump, who has taken credit for a rising stock market as a measure of his own success, complained on Twitter on Wednesday that “good (great) news” in the economy led to an abrupt decline in stock prices, his first comments about the stock market since its sharp drop earlier this week.
In the early-morning tweet, Trump lamented that in the “old days,” stocks would rise on good economic news, saying: “Today, when good news is reported, the Stock Market goes down. Big mistake.” The tweet did not elaborate on what he meant by the “old days” or explain further his analysis of why stocks plum- meted Friday and Monday.
Until Wednesday’s tweet, the president had been unusually silent about the stock market, which has been rocked by volatility, including a decline in the Dow Jones industrial average of almost 7 percent over two days. At one point Monday, the Dow was down almost 1,600 points, or about 6 percent of its total value, the markets plunging as Trump was giving a speech in Blue Ash, Ohio. It closed that day down 1,175 points.
Trump’s assertion that the fall was pegged to good economic news stems from Friday’s job report, which showed wages beginning to rise as the economy nears full employment. Rising wages are good for those who receive them, and for the presidents who seek to stock prices while still taking stimulate them, but investors credit for the run of success see them as a sign of possi- that preceded it. ble inflation and higher inter“We are very focused on est rates. Analysts pegged long-term economic growth, the sell-off in stocks to the and we believe that the polstrong employment numbers icies that we have enacted, as investors feared the Fedincluding tax reform, are eral Reserve might quicken very positive for long-term the pace of its interest rate economic growth,” Mnuchin hikes. said at a House Financial Ser
White House officials had vices Committee hearing. released only a terse stateAsked after the hearing m ent a fter the market’s if the administration would decline earlier this week. in the future refrain from Sarah Huckabee Sanders, embracing the stock marthe White House press sec- ket as a proxy now that it retary, said in a statement has become such a volatile Monday that “the President’s measure, Mnuchin made focus is on our long-term clear that he was not ready economic fundamentals, to do so. which remain exception“We’ve always been lookally strong, with strengthening at the long-term impact ing U.S. economic growth, of the stock market. It’s still historically low unemployup over 30 percent since the ment, and increasing wages election, and we continue to for American workers.” think America is a great place
On Tuesday, the Treasury to do business,” he said. secretary, Steven Mnuchin, “We couldn’t be happier tried to walk a fine line in with companies’ response distancing the administra- with more and more investtion from the recent drop in ments in the U.S.”