Trump front-ran his own tariff pause news with “buy now” post—stocks add $4 trillion

President Donald Trump posted, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT” on Truth Social four hours ago. At the time, no one outside his team knew what was coming.

Then, minutes ago, he dropped a second post announcing that the United States would immediately raise its tariff on China to 125%. The post also said there would be a 90-day pause for all other countries, during which tariffs would be lowered to 10%.

Trump gave a long explanation in the post. Trump said China had shown “a lack of respect” to global markets. He said the new 125% tariff was now in effect. He added that more than 75 countries had contacted U.S. agencies like the Commerce Department, Treasury, and U.S. Trade Representative about issues tied to trade, barriers, tariffs, currency, and non-monetary practices. He said those countries hadn’t hit back at the U.S., so he gave them a temporary deal: a pause, with a 10% rate, also effective now.

Markets gain trillions after Trump’s double post

Within ten minutes of the second Trump post going live, U.S. stocks added $4 trillion in value. The S&P 500 gained 6%, the Dow Jones rose 2,159 points (a 5.7% jump), and the Nasdaq climbed 8%. This all happened hours after Trump told people to buy.

Before this announcement, investors had been reacting to a tit-for-tat exchange between Trump and China. Tensions were climbing fast. The European Union had just confirmed new tariffs on U.S. goods that were set to begin on April 15. Traders were anxious. The markets were already on edge from a four-day losing streak.

During those four trading sessions, the Dow had dropped over 4,500 points. The S&P 500 had fallen 12%, and the Nasdaq lost over 13%. That dip hit hard, especially in tech and consumer stocks that had been most exposed to the tariff battles.

But everything turned once Trump’s pause was posted. Apple’s stock jumped 7%, Nvidia climbed 10%, and Walmart went up 9%. These were some of the companies hit hardest in the last round of drops, and now they were leading the rebound.

After Trump made his posts, Scott Bessent, who now leads the U.S. Treasury, spoke to reporters. He said that the 90-day tariff pause applied to all countries except China. “Only China remains at 125%,” Bessent said. “Everyone else goes to 10% during this window for negotiation.” He also said the pause did not include sector-specific tariffs. So, targeted industries are still facing the old rates.

Bessent also said he would personally take the lead in the trade negotiations. That was enough to give Wall Street more confidence, and traders reacted right away.

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