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President Donald Trump has been quick to rip into his predecessors about the stock market over the years – but the Dow under his watch has tumbled 5 percent in one of the worst economic starts in recent memory.
As White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt bragged about the “golden age” of Trump’s economy, the Dow Jones index plummeted in real time on the Fox News live ticker. By closing Tuesday, the Dow had dropped 480 points. That loss came after it dropped nearly 900 points on Monday. The Dow has now fallen from 44,025 to 41,911 in Trump’s first 50 days
Trump once warned that if Kamala Harris was elected president, America would experience another crash like the Great Depression. “We are going to have a crash and we’re going to have a crash like a 1929 crash if she gets in,” Trump said on the campaign trail in August.
Now, 51 days into his presidency, economists and major banks have increased the chances of a U.S. recession after a manic and turbulent 24 hours on Wall Street.
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President Donald Trump frequently tore into his predecessors and opponents over the stock market. He has seen the Dow Jones go from 44,025 to 41,911 in his first 50 days (PA Wire)
While Trump touts his current economic performance, he has been quick to rip previous adminstrations for theirs.
One frequently cited post is a supposed 2012 tweet where Trump said “If the Dow drops 1,000 points in two days the President should be impeached immediately!” it said. However, the post has long been debunked.
That doesn’t mean the president hasn’t been critical in the past when it comes to the stock market.
“Amazing–Obama speaks, market goes DOWN—Trump tells CNBC he’s buying stock—market goes UP — should not be that way!” Trump posted in August 2011.
“Congratulations to Barack Obama for having 2012’s debt already surpass 2011,” he wrote in October 2012.
Later, Trump bragged about his victory over Hillary Clinton in a post in December 2017. “If the Dems (Crooked Hillary) got elected, your stocks would be down 50% from values on Election Day,” Trump posted. “Now they have a great future – and just beginning!”
Trump posted about the stock market prolifically during his first term.
“Highest stock market EVER,’’ Trump wrote in a post on Twitter, now X, in July 2017. “The Stock Market just reached an All-Time High during my Administration for the 102nd Time a presidential record by far for less than two years,” he wrote on October 2018.
“You cannot judge my Stock Market performance since the Inauguration, which was very good, but only from the day after the big Election Win, which was spectacular due to the euphoria of getting Obama/Biden OUT, & getting Trump/Pence IN,” he wrote in October 2019. “Went up BIG between Nov. 9 & Inauguration!”
“Trump stock market rally is far outpacing past US presidents,” he bragged in December 2019.
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White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt brags that Trump’s ‘America First’ policies will boost the economy, all while the Dow Jones sinks in real-time during Fox News’ live broadcast of her remarks (Fox News)
Trump’s attitude toward the stock market appears to have changed in a matter of weeks.Until recently, the stock market was used reliably as a measure of his economic success. On the eve of his inauguration, the president referred to the increase in stocks as the “Trump effect.”
“I was very proud to have handed over the country when the stock market was higher than it was, previous to the pandemic coming in,” the president added in a Fox News interview on February 9. “It was an amazing achievement.”
“The stock market is going to be great,” he then said at an investor conference on February 19.
It all changed over the weekend when Trump spooked the markets by refusing to rule out a recession and signaled he would not be backing down with his aggressive trade tariffs. “There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big,” Trump told Maria Bartiromo Sunday on Fox News. When asked whether he thinks a recession is imminent, Trump said, “I hate to predict things like that,” and later conceded there would be “disruption.”
“What I have to do is build a strong country,” he also said. “You can’t really watch the stock market.”
As stocks slid further Tuesday afternoon, Leavitt told a press briefing there was “great indication to be optimistic about where the economy stands.”
“The American people, investors, CEOs, small business owners, but most importantly, workers should bet on President Trump, because his tariff policies, what he envisions is reciprocity, fair trade practices, where American workers are put first and are no longer ripped off by foreign countries all over this world,” Leavitt said at the briefing.
And as the nightmare on Wall Street unfolded Monday, Trump was on a Truth Social spree, posting more than 100 times in six hours.
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A handful of the positive headlines Trump was posting while stocks plummeted (@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social)
On Monday, the S&P 500 dropped almost 3 percent, the Nasdaq tanked 4.2 percent and the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its worst day of 2025. Trump, however, was reeling off positive headlines on his social media platform.
Among the scores of posts Trump shared was a Daily Caller piece by conservative commentator Larry Elder titled “Trump Is Right About Tariffs.” Others read “Trump Has the Taxpayers’ Back” and “Trump tariffs will save American jobs and level the playing field.”
In addition to the positive headlines about the trade tariffs, which have prompted economists to increase the likelihood of a U.S. recession, the president shared a flurry of links to news stories from the previous week praising his “rousing” speech during his first joint address to Congress. The president also shared headlines about his “success” on the border and being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Rep. Darrell Issa.
There was no explicit comment from Trump on the stock market, but the White House attempted to downplay the damage.
“Since President Trump was elected, industry leaders have responded to President Trump’s America First economic agenda of tariffs, deregulation, and the unleashing of American energy with trillions in investment commitments that will create thousands of new jobs,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told CNBC in a statement. “President Trump delivered historic job, wage, and investment growth in his first term, and is set to do so again in his second term.”
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