Investing.com -- U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the stock market again at a White House event on Tuesday. Stocks have been under extreme pressure for the past few weeks due to uncertainty about the administration’s ever-changing tariff policy.
The S&P 500 is down over 9% from its February highs after Trump slapped 25% tariffs on close trading partners Mexico and Canada, an additional 10% on China, and is targeting reciprocal tariffs for the European Union and others.
“I think we are going to do great,” Trump said in response to a question about those struggling with their retirement accounts and job security.
“We had to go and do this,” he added. Other countries have taken away our business, they've taken away our jobs... In my first term, we had the greatest economy in history...”
Trump highlighted that when his first term ended, the stock market was higher than it ever was. “This economy, in my opinion, is going to blow it away,” Trump exclaimed.
“We have to get the workers back; we have to get the factories open… we’ve had 90,000 factory and plant closed post NAFTA.”
“We gave it away… and we are taking it back,” he concluded.
Despite the comments today, Trump and his administration have taken a laissez-faire attitude with the stock market, with Trump saying last week he is “not looking at the stock market.” Likewise, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said their focus is on “Main Street, not Wall Street.” He added that the U.S could enter a “detox period” as massive government sector spending moves to the private sector.