Over the last year, while President Joe Biden was in office, Trump took credit for stock market rallies as a vote of confidence in his electoral prospects. When the market dipped, he blamed Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. And he predicted that if Democrats won the 2024 presidential election, the stock market would have crashed.

Donald Trump never told voters there might be a recession on the road to his new “golden age.” The president’s refusal – twice – to rule out an economic contraction this year set off a stock market plunge on Monday that hammered Americans’ retirement accounts.

As major indexes slide and investors worry, the president abandons his longtime claim that Wall Street performance is the only economic metric that matters, and digs in on import tariffs most businesses oppose.

President Donald Trump recently expanded exemptions on tariffs imposed on Canada and Mexico. The temporary relief has sparked cautious optimism among businesses, but trade tensions have continued to create uncertainty.