Trump Mulling 90-Day Tariff Pause Amid Market Turmoil? White House Responds To Rumour

<p>The White House on Monday strongly denied claims that US President Donald Trump was considering a 90-day pause on tariffs, following a brief but dramatic swing in stock markets triggered by the speculation.</p>
<p>The rumour, which quickly circulated on social media, appeared to stem from comments attributed to Kevin Hassett, a senior economic adviser. Traders responded rapidly, with markets initially surging before reversing gains. However, the White House&rsquo;s rapid response labelled the claim as &ldquo;fake news.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The account @RapidResponse47, associated with the White House, dismissed the speculation shortly after the markets reacted.</p>
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”>
<p dir=”ltr” lang=”en”>.<a href=”https://twitter.com/PressSec?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@PressSec</a>: Reports that <a href=”https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@POTUS</a> is considering a 90-day pause on tariffs are FAKE NEWS. <a href=”https://t.co/UfXO1BhwYW”>pic.twitter.com/UfXO1BhwYW</a></p>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href=”https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1909255140671984072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>April 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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A wire headline that suggested Trump was considering delaying new tariffs for 90 days was rejected by White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who told CNBC&rsquo;s Eamon Javers, &ldquo;Fake news.&rdquo; The report had cited Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council.</p>
<p>In an earlier appearance on Fox News, Hassett had been asked about the possibility of a pause in tariffs but remained noncommittal, stating, &ldquo;I think the president is going to decide what the president is going to decide.&rdquo;</p>
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<p dir=”ltr” lang=”en”>Wrong. Not only did Director Hassett not say this (clip below), <a href=”https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@POTUS</a> has been clear &mdash; “it all has to change, but especially with CHINA!!!” <a href=”https://t.co/3Kvt8AScAZ”>https://t.co/3Kvt8AScAZ</a> <a href=”https://t.co/JHucHjZm3S”>pic.twitter.com/JHucHjZm3S</a></p>
&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href=”https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1909254335822692548?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>April 7, 2025</a></blockquote>
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<p>Trump also took to social media to reinforce his hardline stance, sharing a video clip of Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, who stated, &ldquo;President Trump is not going to bend.&rdquo; In the clip, Bartiromo highlighted falling rates and oil prices, attributing them to deregulation under the Trump administration.</p>
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<p>The incident showed the market&rsquo;s volatility and sensitivity to potential trade policy changes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly recovered from a morning loss of 1,700 points, jumped over 800 points, and then fell again to a loss of 629 points. The S&amp;P 500 also fluctuated sharply, down 0.7% in the first hour of trading, while the Nasdaq composite was up 0.2%, news agency AP reported. The turbulence followed global market drops amid growing fears that Trump&rsquo;s ongoing trade war could derail the global economy.</p>
<p>In a post on Truth Social, Trump added, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not sustainable&rdquo; for the United States to &ldquo;lose $1.9 trillion on trade,&rdquo; reiterating his administration&rsquo;s trade grievances.<iframe class=”truthsocial-embed truthsocial-video” style=”max-width: 100%; border: 0;” src=”https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114297055955956469/embed” width=”600″ allowfullscreen=”allowfullscreen”></iframe></p>
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The post also featured a video of Trump speaking to reporters, in which he said, &ldquo;The U.S. can&rsquo;t lose money on trade and also spend a lot of money on NATO in order to protect European nations.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Since the tariff-related announcement on April 2, markets have edged closer to bear territory. More than $5 trillion in value was erased from US stocks over the next two days, while Japan&rsquo;s Nikkei index fell nearly 8 per cent, and European markets dropped by 6 per cent. The VIX volatility index also recorded its highest level since August 2024.</p>
<h3><strong>’There Is No Inflation’: US President Trump As Tariffs Make Markets Tumble</strong></h3>
<p>Despite the turmoil, US President Trump asserted there was &ldquo;no inflation&rdquo;. &ldquo;Oil prices are down, interest rates are down (the slow-moving Fed should cut rates!), food prices are down, there is NO INFLATION, and the long-time abused USA is bringing in Billions of Dollars a week from the abusing countries on Tariffs that are already in place,&rdquo; he posted on Truth Social.</p>
<p>He further accused China of raising its tariffs by 34% despite his warnings. &ldquo;This is despite the fact that the biggest abuser of them all, China, whose markets are crashing, just raised its Tariffs by 34%, on top of its long-term ridiculously high Tariffs (Plus!), not acknowledging my warning for abusing countries not to retaliate. They&rsquo;ve made enough, for decades, taking advantage of the Good OL&rsquo; USA! Our past &lsquo;leaders&rsquo; are to blame for allowing this, and so much else, to happen to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!&rdquo; he added.</p>
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<p>According to Reuters, investors now fear that the US Federal Reserve may be forced to cut interest rates as early as May due to rising recession risks. Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned, as reported by AP, that the Trump administration&rsquo;s trade policies are likely to raise prices for both imported and domestic goods, placing further strain on an already slowing US economy.</p>