Trump bravado as US market continues to tank after China retaliates

TOI Correspondent from Washington: MAGA supremo Donald Trump was all bravado on Friday as US stocks went into a dizzying downward spiral, wiping out another $ 2 trillion in investor money after China retaliated to his tariff gambit that has inflamed global markets. "China played it wrong, they panicked -- the one thing they cannot afford to do," Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday after Beijing announced a 34 per cent retaliatory tariff, but it was American investors who were panicking as they bolted the markets, tanking the broader S&P index by another 5 per cent despite an upbeat jobs report the US President clung on to. "GREAT JOB NUMBERS, FAR BETTER THAN EXPECTED. IT’S ALREADY WORKING. HANG TOUGH, WE CAN’T LOSE!!" Trump exhorted as Americans families, 60 per cent of whom are invested in the stock market, saw their retirement savings and assets begin to evaporate. The US market has lost nearly 10 per cent in two days. Trump also sowed confusion by throwing out the prospect of talks with the tariffed world despite reportedly sending out internal White House talking points that instructed associates not to characterize the tariffs as a starting point for negotiation.“Every country is calling us,” he boasted in a chat with reporters on his plane. “That’s the beauty of what we do: We put ourselves in the driver’s seat. If we would have asked these countries to do us a favor, they would have said no. Now they will do anything for us.”But while India has continued to talk to Washington in virtual negotiations after in-person talks in New Delhi even before the punitive tariffs were announced, China, which recently declared that it was ready for any kind of war with the US, was in no mood to talk, accusing the US of "typical unilateral bullying practice... not in line with international trade rules."Trump though suggested other countries were lining up to kiss the ring, revealing "a very productive call with To Lam, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, who told me that Vietnam wants to cut their Tariffs down to ZERO if they are able to make an agreement with the US."At the same time, Trump maintained his policies would never change if countries invested in the US. "TO THE MANY INVESTORS COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES AND INVESTING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF MONEY, MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE. THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH, RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE!!!" he pledged. At home though, he is getting battered by the American commentariat -- save for a few MAGA faithful -- who accuse him of being clueless about the historical outcome of tariffs. Several Republican lawmakers have also parted ways with the MAGA sentiment, some of them joining forces with Democrats to regain Congressional primacy on the issue.