Featured Image Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Topics: US News, Politics, Donald Trump, Money
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: US News, Politics, Donald Trump, Money
A social media user has questioned whether US President Donald Trump's tariffs are all part of a 'wild' 'chess move'.
On April 2, Trump unveiled major new tariffs inflicted on goods across the globe, dubbing the day 'Liberation Day' for America.
A 25 percent tariff was slapped on all foreign-made automobile alongside a baseline 10 percent tariff to be applied to all countries as of today (April 5) - except those compliant with the USMCA free trade agreement between Mexico, Canada, and the United States.
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UK imports have a 10 percent tariff and EU goods will have a 20 percent tariff.
Some countries have responded with counter tariffs - China unleashing one of 34 percent on US goods - and Trump has continued to double down, but what is his ultimate endgame in all of this?
Trump shared a fan video to Truth Social which states: "Trump is purposely crashing the market."
The TikTok video - shared to Twitter - theorizes: "Trump is crashing the stock market by 20 percent this month, but he's doing it on purpose.
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"Now here's the secret game he's playing and it could make you rich. So why is he doing this? To push cash into treasuries which forces the Fed to slash interest rates in May and those lower rates give the Fed the ability to refinance trillions of debt very inexpensively. It also weakens the dollar and drops mortgage rates."
Branding it a 'wild' but 'working' 'chess move,' the Twitter user calls Trump's tariffs a 'genius play' which 'forces companies to build here to dodge them' and 'forces farmers to sell more of their products here in the US to bring grocery prices way down'.
Part of the video claiming Warren Buffet has praised Trump for making 'the best economic moves he's seen in over 50 years' has been debunked - Buffett having publicly denounced his endorsement of the president's economic policies.
But the video's other theories may not be quite so far-fetched, Trump having taken to Truth Social to hint at Fed Chairman Jerome Powell about interest rates.
Trump wrote: "This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates. He is always 'late,' but he could now change his image, and quickly.
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"Energy prices are down, Interest Rates are down, Inflation is down, even Eggs are down 69 percent, and Jobs are UP, all within two months - A BIG WIN for America.
"CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!"
However, Powell contradicted Trump's claims at an event in Virginia yesterday (April 4).
He warned: "We face a highly uncertain outlook with elevated risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation.
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"It is now becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected. The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth."
UNILAD has contacted the White House for comment.