Global Markets Rattled as White House Nukes Tariff “90-Day Pause” Rumors

Welcome back! Another wild Monday on Wall Street, and if you blinked, you probably missed the market’s brief flirtation with optimism. A headline claimed Trump was considering a 90-day pause on his upcoming tariff rollout. Stocks spiked. Social Media exploded. And then… the White House called BS.

Let’s break down the chaos.

“Fake News”: No Pause, No Mercy

At the start of the market session, stocks surged in response to a story claiming Trump was planning to delay the rollout of tariffs for 90 days. The rumor caught fire, sending investors scrambling to adjust their positions. However, the optimism was short-lived. CNBC, which originally reported the story, had misquoted White House adviser Kevin Hassett, who supposedly said Trump might pause tariffs scheduled for April 9.

It didn’t take long for the full quote to surface, and it wasn’t pretty: “I think that the president is going to decide what the president is going to decide... It all has to change, but especially with CHINA!!!” That’s not exactly a green light for market confidence, is it?

The White House quickly dismissed the story, calling it “fake news” in a series of posts on X. The markets, which had been riding the wave of optimism, reversed course almost immediately, plunging back into the chaos they know so well.

Tariffs or Bust: Team Trump Doubles Down

The Trump administration didn’t back down—if anything, they doubled down. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick didn’t mince words on CBS, reaffirming that the tariffs are coming, with no signs of stopping.

Meanwhile, Peter Navarro, one of the administration's most vocal advocates, appeared on CNBC, urging investors not to panic, assuring them that the historic tax cuts would be coming soon to save the day. His optimism felt a bit off, though, given the surrounding uncertainty.

As if that wasn’t enough, Trump himself hopped on Truth Social to bash the Fed once again, calling for a rate cut. As if the market didn’t have enough to process already. This added even more volatility to an already turbulent environment.

Markets Tank. Allies Waver.

And what happened next? More market carnage. Investors weren’t buying the tax cut optimism, and some of Trump’s closest allies started to waver. Bill Ackman, one of Trump’s top donors, is now advocating for a 90-day delay on tariffs. Even Stanley Druckenmiller, a major GOP supporter, posted that he doesn’t support tariffs higher than 10%.

If the Trump administration’s plan goes ahead as scheduled, the U.S. would face a 22.5% effective tariff rate—the highest since 1909. Even Ted Cruz is getting nervous, calling the proposed tariff hikes a “tax on consumers” and voicing his opposition to any increase.

The whole thing has become a political and economic game of chicken, with no clear end in sight.

What’s Next?

With no sign of policy reversal, Wall Street is starting to cut its year-end targets and raise recession odds. The markets seem increasingly skeptical about the administration’s ability to weather the storm. Knowing how Trump operates, it’s hard to imagine a sudden change of course—he’s not one to back down easily. But here's where I think things could get interesting: As the pressure mounts, foreign countries may start to cave, slowly easing their tariffs to strike a deal with the U.S. That could provide some relief to the markets, but it’s unlikely to happen overnight. This will take many months to play out.

In the meantime? Volatility is here to stay. Investors who thought they could sit back and relax might want to reconsider that approach. Brace yourselves for more whiplash.

Bottom Line:

The tariffs are coming, whether the markets like it or not. We’ve known about this catalyst for months, and it’s what has brought this entirely manipulated economic bubble machine to it’s knees.

This fake news headline about a 90-day tariff pause, amplified by mainstream media, proves once again why legacy outlets cannot be trusted. Without even verifying it, CNBC and Reuters pushed the story—triggering a market surge of over 10%. That likely handed exit liquidity straight to insiders and Wall Street elites.

Stop relying on sketchy mainstream media whose main goal is manipulation. Instead, follow accurate, unbiased, fact-based sources like WhaleWire. Our newsletter gained over 2,800 new premium subscribers just last week—after nearly all our recession predictions came true. Thank you to everyone who subscribed!

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We will be covering this recession very closely each day, so stay tuned!