Trump's Tariffs – Outright Stupidity or Blatant Market Manipulation?
- Stephen James Mitchell
- 5 days ago
- 6 min read
By Stephen James Mitchell
Introduction: The Rally No One Should Be Celebrating
Wall Street just experienced one of its strongest single-day rallies in history. The man taking credit for it? President Donald Trump. But let’s not forget—this is the same man whose actions triggered the selloff that preceded it. This isn’t just irony. It’s a case study in chaos, and it raises an urgent question: are we looking at a display of sheer economic incompetence or something much more calculated?
Because the way I see it, it's one of two things: either this is Trump's outright stupidity, or it’s blatant market manipulation, And personally? I know where my money is.
Understanding the Basics: Tariffs Hurt Consumer Economies
Let’s be clear about the fundamentals. The U.S. is the largest consumer-driven economy in the world. It relies heavily on imports to meet domestic demand. Why? Because local manufacturing is expensive. Labor is costly. Resource extraction is inefficient. That’s why outsourcing exists. It isn’t about generosity or uplifting other economies—it’s about margins.
In this context, tariffs aren’t a clever negotiating tactic. They’re a self-inflicted wound. When you impose tariffs, you force consumers to choose between paying more for locally produced goods or paying more for imported ones with added duties. Either way, prices rise, purchasing power falls, and consumer sentiment weakens.
So when Trump talks about using tariffs as a bargaining chip or a tool for economic gain, it immediately suggests either a gross misunderstanding of basic economic principles—or a deliberate move to create volatility. And in a country where most citizens already face cost-of-living pressures, these decisions aren’t just bad politics—they have real, everyday consequences.
Globalisation Is Not a Political Dream—It’s Economic Efficiency And It Benefits The US
Some people like to frame globalisation as an ideological concept. But really, it’s just about logic. Companies build factories in lower-cost countries not because they’re noble, but because it makes financial sense. They can produce more for less, then sell it into developed markets at competitive prices.
That’s the system. It’s built on self-interest. And disrupting it with tariffs in a consumer-reliant nation like the U.S. doesn’t hurt China or Mexico—it hurts the American consumer. It also puts pressure on the very companies that drive the economy. Supply chains don’t bend overnight—they break. And rebuilding them under new trade regimes takes time, money, and lost productivity.
The Selloff: Triggered by One Man
The recent market decline wasn’t caused by macroeconomic fundamentals. It wasn’t a banking crisis or a major earnings miss. It was caused by policy uncertainty and off-the-cuff rhetoric from the most powerful office in the world.
Trump has consistently used trade threats and tariff announcements as pressure tactics. But they’ve come with unintended consequences. Markets don’t like unpredictability. When the rules of the game change every 48 hours, investors start pulling back. Capital sits on the sidelines. Risk premiums rise.
And then, just as the panic starts to spread, Trump walks it back—announcing a 90-day suspension of tariffs. The result? A huge rally. One of the best days on Wall Street in years. And he celebrates it as a personal win, as though he wasn’t the cause of the problem in the first place.
The Leak That Raises Questions
Now here’s where it gets particularly interesting. The news of the 90-day tariff suspension didn’t just appear with Trump’s announcement yesterday. It was leaked—on social media—two days earlier, on April 7.
Initially, it was seen as speculation. But in hindsight, it was right on the money. Which raises an uncomfortable but important question: who knew in advance, and who positioned themselves to profit?
Because if the rally was driven by a policy decision that certain individuals were aware of two days before the market responded, then we are no longer talking about poor leadership. We’re talking about market manipulation.
Believe it or not, Trump even posted on his own X. account - "THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJI" just hours before he officially announced the "90-tariff suspension"!
This isn’t just a political issue. It’s a regulatory one. It cuts to the core of fair markets and equal access to information. If insiders were acting on that information before it became public, that’s no different than insider trading in a corporate context—and should be treated as such.
The Wealth Transfer That No One Is Talking About
In every market crash and recovery, there are winners and losers. That’s simply the nature of a zero-sum environment. But in this case, the redistribution of wealth was particularly stark.
Retail investors—ordinary people with retirement accounts, savings, and basic brokerage portfolios—often react emotionally. They weren't sat at their trading screen these past few days buying the dip. They sold out out of fear. Millions of retail investors around the world de-risked and lost billions of dollars. Meanwhile, the wealthy and financially savvy investors—those with access to capital and experience—step in to buy the dip. They understand that the best time to enter the market is during a panic-driven sell-off, regardless of whether they had advance notice or not.
So what we saw last night wasn’t just another rally. It was a colossal, one-day wealth transfer, of tens of billions of dollars—from the many to the few. And the trigger wasn’t economic data or a business cycle shift. It was political rhetoric. And the people who paid the price were once again those without access, timing, or leverage.
Is This Incompetence or a Strategy?
At this point, we have to be honest with ourselves. If a president with decades of business experience doesn’t understand how tariffs impact supply chains and consumer prices, then he and his advisors are fundamentally unqualified to lead a modern economy.
But if they do understand—and they’re still choosing to make announcements in this erratic, disruptive way—then this isn’t about poor leadership. It’s about using policy to manipulate market cycles.
And if that’s the case, it’s hard not to view this as a catastrophic abuse of power. These swings have consequences. They affect jobs, pensions, property prices, and personal wealth. This isn’t just about political optics. It’s about integrity.
Trump Has The Power To Manipulate The Market: Why Market Confidence Is at Risk
Markets thrive on predictability. They can handle bad news. What they can’t handle is inconsistency. When leaders like Donald Trump act recklessly and change their stance every few days, or when major policy changes are leaked in advance, trust begins to erode.
And once trust is gone, it’s incredibly hard to rebuild.
Investors begin to doubt whether they’re playing on a level field. Retail participation drops. Liquidity dries up. And capital, always averse to uncertainty, looks for safer havens.
That’s the real cost of what we’re seeing—not just temporary volatility, but lasting damage to the perception of fairness and transparency. And if it continues, it could have long-term implications for how international investors view U.S. markets.
We Need Reform, Not Just Reflection
So what needs to change? First, there should be a clear protocol for how and when market-sensitive policies are announced. No more off-the-cuff remarks. No more social media leaks. Major economic decisions should come through formal, structured channels.
Second, any leak that results in significant market movement should be investigated. Immediately. We have surveillance tools. We have compliance frameworks. But if they’re not applied at the highest levels of government, what’s the point?
Finally, we need accountability. If policy is being used to shift markets for political or financial gain, it has to be called out for what it is. And investors need to know that the playing field isn’t rigged.
Bottom Line: Stupidity or Strategy?
We’re left with two possibilities:
Either Trump and his advisors are economically incompetent—which would be deeply concerning given the scale of influence they hold—or this is a carefully executed strategy to drive fear and euphoria in the markets for gain.
Personally? I think the incompetence argument has worn thin. This looks and feels like manipulation. And that should concern every investor, regardless of politics.
Because if markets can be swayed this easily, with this little accountability, then none of us are investing in fundamentals anymore. We’re just reacting to headlines—written and retracted at will by those in power.
— Stephen James Mitchell
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