Trump’s economic team of rivals braces for turbulence after doing little to curb his tariff appetite

President Donald Trump is happy to talk about the financial markets when they’re rising, as they were on Wednesday, but when markets were falling Thursday in the aftermath of his remarkable turnabout on tariffs, he punted to the closest adviser around.

President Donald Trump is happy to talk about the financial markets when they’re rising, as they were on Wednesday, but when markets were falling Thursday in the aftermath of his remarkable turnabout on tariffs, he punted to the closest adviser around. This time, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was in the hot seat. When a reporter in the Cabinet Room asked Trump to weigh in on yet another day of tumbling stocks, the president said: “Scott, do you want to have a statement on that?” “Sure,” Bessent said, pausing for a moment. “The up 2, down 1, is not a bad ratio – or up 10, down 5.” As his fellow Cabinet members and the president watched, Bessent filled the air with words. Finally, he arrived at this definitive message: “We will end up in a place of great certainty over the next 90 days on tariffs.” The next three months at the White House, until the deadline of the tariff pause approaches on July 8, will offer a telling window into just who has Trump’s ear on trade policy.