The odds of a recession are rising, markets are crashing and President Donald Trump is forging ahead with tariffs.
This volatile playbook is eerily similar to Trump’s first term, which started with a bang before giving way to one of the biggest bull markets in recent history. However, this time, Trump seems to have dropped the stock market as one of his favorite barometers of success, opting instead to focus on the long-term health of the US economy.
Trump has promised to usher in America’s next “Golden Age,” but before that happens, the economy might need a painful dose of medicine. There is growing speculation that Trump is purposely stoking growth fears and crashing the market to force the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates.
It might sound crazy, but there may be a method to Trump’s apparent madness.
A coordinated crash
For decades, there was an unspoken rule in Washington that the president must