The Market’s Biggest Threat Isn’t Trump. It’s the Machines He’s Beating
If President Trump wanted to game the market, he’d own it by now. He’s a billionaire. He’s not in this to make a quick buck, he’s already made his money. He’s fighting for America.
This week, the stock market bounced back after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for all countries, except China, whose tariffs were raised to at least 145%. The reaction from critics? Accusations of market manipulation, claims of favoritism, and more political noise.
But here’s what President Trump actually said about the decision:
“I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid.”
Let’s cut through the spin: President Trump made a smart, necessary move to protect Americans from economic whiplash. What followed wasn’t his doing, it was the market doing what it’s programmed to do: react at lightning speed, not to policy, but to headlines.
Blaming the President for that reaction is like blaming the weatherman for the rain. The system is rigged, but not by him. It’s rigged by the same Wall Street institutions that have been running on auto-pilot for years.
Trump Did What Any Strong Leader Would Do
After a rough week on Wall Street and mounting concerns from Democrats and some billionaire Americans (i.e., Bill Ackman), Trump hit pause, not for optics, but to bring a sense of control and calm to the complainers. That’s leadership.
He didn’t make the market bounce. Algorithms did. The same hedge funds and high-frequency trading firms that dominate daily market activity read “pause on tariffs” and triggered instant buy orders. This wasn’t a favor to the wealthy, it was a technical reaction by a machine-run system. Algorithms don’t care about intentions, they respond to inputs, and they did exactly what they were programmed to do.
If anything, President Trump showed once again that he understands markets better than the talking heads criticizing him. He acted to reduce uncertainty, and the market responded.
And here’s what people are missing: even though he paused the tariffs, Trump’s strategy is working. Multiple countries have now signaled they’re open to removing their tariffs if the U.S. removes theirs. That’s a clear win. It proves that Trump’s tough stance brought these countries to the negotiating table. His tariff policy was and is effective leverage.
Your 401(k) Is Fine
Let’s be clear about what really matters for everyday Americans: your retirement savings are not being sold off during a volatile trading day. A bank that has morals and serves its clients, not just its shareholders, is generally not liquidating your 401(k) when the S&P 500 drops a few points. Why? Because those portfolios are typically designed to maximize long-term profit, not to react emotionally to short-term swings.
Your retirement is likely sitting in diversified mutual funds and ETFs. It doesn’t move just because CNN gets hysterical. If you held steady through the dip, you’re fine. If you sold out of fear after a 3% drop, then maybe investing isn’t for you.
This is the market. It’s always moved in cycles. The difference today is that those cycles are driven more by code than common sense.
Modern Markets Are Built on Speed, Not Fundamentals
The average American still thinks investing is about company performance, leadership, and earnings. It’s not. It’s about headlines, volatility, and algorithmic reaction times.
Roughly 85% of all trading volume today is automated. Hedge funds run bots that scan every word, every alert, every shift in tone. A pause in tariffs? Buy signals fire. Billions move. That’s not Trump pulling strings, that’s code written years ago doing what it was designed to do. (If you want to understand how this financial world works, I highly recommend Flash Boys by Michael Lewis.)
The Real Problem: Wall Street Built a Casino, Then Blamed the President
It’s not President Trump who made the market fragile. He’s just one of the few people in Washington who actually understands how it really works.
The system is built by banks and hedge funds that profit off of instability. They’ve created a machine that rewards speed over value, hype over substance, and volatility over long-term health.
Trump didn’t create that system, but he knows how to navigate it. And unlike most politicians, he’s not afraid to call it what it is.
So no, your retirement isn’t being secretly drained. And no, Trump didn’t manipulate the market. He saw fear and he led.
The chaos came from the machines.
The panic came from the press.
The leadership came from Trump.