More carrots, please.
Feeling flogged by sticks, Wall Street greeted President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” with a bellowing Bronx cheer.
On Wednesday, Trump unveiled 10% across-the-board tariffs on all imports, plus reciprocal taxes tailored to foil foreign tariffs on U.S. goods. Financial markets opened Thursday and swiftly wilted.
After China slapped a retaliatory 34% tariff on American products early Friday, the key indexes dropped like bombs from a B-52. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 2,231 points (5.50%). The S&P 500 plunged 322 points (5.97%). The NASDAQ plummeted 962 points (5.82%).
By this measure, the contrast between Trump-45’s and Trump-47’s early days could not be more stark. While the DJIA rose 4.3% between Jan. 20 and April 4, 2017, it slipped 13% from Jan. 21 to April 4, 2025. The S&P advanced 3.9% for those 2017 dates, but…
