Trump hits golf course as stock market plummets for a second straight day over tariffs
The US president shared a TikTok video that claimed he was crashing the stock market on purpose as part of a ‘secret game’
Two days after sending the economy reeling by announcing widespread tariffs, US President Donald Trump insisted his trade policies would never change as he remained ensconced in a bubble of wealth and power in Florida.
The worldwide sell-off for financial markets slammed into a higher, scarier gear on Friday as the S&P 500 plummeted 6 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 5.5 per cent and the Nasdaq composite dropped 5.8 per cent.
Markets are facing their worst crisis since the Covid crash after China matched Trump’s big raise in tariffs in an escalating trade war. The price of oil slid to its lowest level since 2001.
Meanwhile, the US president began the day at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, and headed to his nearby golf course a few kilometres away after writing on social media that “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH”.
Several supporters stood on the pavement as Trump, wearing his signature red “Make America Great Again” hat and white polo shirt, glided down a street lined with palm trees. They waved to him and he waved back, part of a ritual that plays out every weekend that he is in town.
The Republican president was not expected to appear publicly, although he is scheduled to attend a candlelit dinner for Maga Inc., an allied political organisation, on Friday evening.