Trump says he doesn't want stocks to go down, 'but sometimes you have to take medicine'

by · CNBC

Key Points

  • President Donald Trump said Sunday evening that he is not intentionally engineering the ongoing stock market sell-off, "but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something."
  • He cited the trade deficit with China as his rationale for pressing on with his tariffs plan despite the recent pain in the markets.
  • The comments came as U.S. stock futures dropped, pointing to big losses at Monday's open.

President Donald Trump said Sunday evening that he is not intentionally engineering the ongoing stock market sell-off, but said little to try and dissuade it.

"I don't want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night when asked about the markets.

The comments came as U.S. stock market futures dropped on Sunday evening, with Dow Jones Industrial Average futures sliding 4.1%, accelerating losses that carried through from Thursday and Friday and indicating more selling is likely to hit Monday morning.

He cited the trade deficit with China as his rationale for pressing on with his tariffs plan despite the recent pain in the markets.

"We have to solve our trade deficit with China," he said. "We have a trillion-dollar trade deficit with China, hundreds of billions of dollars a year we lose with China. And unless we solve that problem, I'm not going to make a deal."

"I'm willing to deal with China," he added, "but they have to solve their surplus."

He added that he spoke with European and Asian leaders over the weekend on the tariffs rolled out by his administration, which are expected to take effect in the coming week.

Trump's comments echo those made by Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who on Sunday said the administration will remain steadfast in its plans for reciprocal tariffs on major U.S. trading partners, even in the face of the global stock market sell-off. White House National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett said the stock market drop is not part of an intentional strategy.

The comments by Trump and his team come after the president himself shared a link to a video on his Truth Social account, which claimed the president was causing the markets to plummet on purpose as part of his broader economic plans. 

The video, which initially appeared on TikTok in March, was shared by Trump on April 4, two days after his tariffs announcement.

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