President Donald Trump made a flurry of over 100 posts on Truth Social, the platform he owns, as global stock markets fell sharply on Monday amid fears that his economic policies could lead to a U.S. recession. Trump began sharing links at 11:44 am ET, including one to a Fox News article about the British prime minister raising defense spending. Dozens of other messages followed, most of them praising Trump’s policies.
By 1:05 pm, shortly after the FTSE in London had closed down 1.4%, Trump turned his attention away from the economy to comment on the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian activist and legal U.S. resident, which had sparked large protests.
Trump’s Truth Social activity escalates
After a break of a few hours, Trump resumed posting, sharing unadorned links covering a range of topics, including a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize by a Republican in Congress and tweets of Republican support for him.
Following the closure of U.S. markets, with the S&P down 2.7%, the Dow Jones down 2%, the Nasdaq down 4%, and Tesla shares falling significantly, Trump posted ads for his old reality show, “The Apprentice.”
Later, Trump accused Canada of being a “Tariff Abuser” and praised Elon Musk, accusing leftists of trying to boycott Tesla illegally and collusively. White House officials, speaking anonymously, attempted to clarify Trump’s statements and calm economic concerns, noting a divergence between market reactions and business leaders’ outlooks. Michael Wolff, author of four books on Trump, mentioned that many of Trump’s posts are created by Natalie Harp, a devoted aide.
Sarah Matthews, a former White House communications aide, testified that posts authored by Trump are easily identifiable due to their distinct phrasing and capitalization, whereas messages from aides are more grammatically correct.
