Many Wall Street executives backed President Donald Trump because they were thinking more about what he did in his first term than what he promised to do in his second.
Now that he’s in office, they seem shocked that he meant what he said on the campaign trail.
With Trump’s 100th day in office on Tuesday, tariffs have become his top economic priority, sending markets tumbling — and just as quickly, rebounding — with a passing comment or post on social media.
In just over three months, he’s reordered trade alliances and upended the unique position the U.S. has held in the global economy for decades. The result could send the U.S. into a recession.
None of this should be a surprise. Trump has been praising tariffs for 40 years.
None of this should be a surprise. Trump has been praising tariffs for 40 years. He believes they will bring back manufacturing jobs and help Main Street.
But the back-and-forth, on-again-off-again-back-on-again nature of the tariffs has only led to confusion for businesses. What CEO would make a five-year investment to build a new factory when it’s unclear if the tariffs are happening?
When Trump and his administration aren’t sending conflicting messages about tariffs, he only adds to the economic confusion with threats to Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell’s job — only to reverse himself a few days later, saying he has “no intention of firing” Powell.
All told, the first 100 days of Trump 2.0 are going down as the worst on record for the stock market compared to other presidents since Richard Nixon.
Both small business owners and Fortune 500 companies tell me today reminds them of the worst days during Covid. One small business owner told the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, “If we want to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., can we try not to kill the companies that can actually help do that before we get the chance?”
On the campaign trail, Trump talked a big game about what he’d do to fix the economy, bring down prices, and increase manufacturing jobs. That’s easy when you’re running for president; you don’t have to deliver on what you say.
Now in office, it’s been pandemonium, and that might be the point. Flip over the table, pick up the pieces, and start over. It’s what many voters wanted: They felt the system hadn’t been working for them, so someone needed to mix it up.
But voters also pointed to high prices that aren’t going down. The President may insist the cost of eggs are down 87% (he’s also said 93%) since his inauguration, but the fact is, they’re up 26% for consumers. And tariffs won’t help Americans' pocketbooks. The CEOs of Walmart, Target and Home Depot warned the president that they could lead to higher prices and empty shelves.
None of this makes sense. Trump thinks tariffs will rebuild manufacturing in the U.S., pay for tax cuts (another priority, and one that Wall Street does support) and pay off the debt. Yet at the same time, he’s negotiating trade deals to reduce or even eliminate the tariffs. If you believe what he said in his recent interview with Time magazine, he’s already made an improbable 200 deals.
But if tariffs are gone, that could eliminate any incentive for companies to build factories. It would also mean less money to pay for tax cuts. Even if what remained was a 10% across-the-board tariff, the Tax Foundation estimates that it could bring in $2 trillion over 10 years. The U.S. budget last year was nearly $7 trillion.
The administration says cutting spending, especially fraud, waste and abuse, will help make up the difference. I wish Elon Musk and DOGE were a collaboration between our greatest technology companies and the federal government to make the government more efficient. Instead, it’s been more slash and burn. Where Musk once promised he could save taxpayers $2 trillion, he’s now touting $150 billion, but even that amount has been challenged.
That's why I’m hosting a town hall on MSNBC on Thursday with federal workers forced out of their jobs to mark this milestone date. They were committed to helping our nation and our fellow citizens, many working to make government more efficient and save taxpayers money.
In these past 100 days, Trump has accomplished a tremendous amount, just not in the ways many expected.
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