The U.S. stock market took a huge nosedive Monday after President Donald Trump refused to rule out a coming recession.
The president’s tariffs have frightened investors with weeks of economic uncertainty—and Trump’s constant media blitzes have failed to provide much insight into his plans.
In an interview with Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures this weekend, host Maria Bartiromo asked: “Are you expecting a recession this year?”
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Trump refused to offer a straight answer.
“I hate to predict things like that,” Trump replied. “There is a period of transition, because what we’re doing is very big.”
As the nation struggles to afford rising prices—in particular eggs have skyrocketed in value, a commodity that Trump and Vice President JD Vance repeatedly invoked during the 2024 campaign—the president is seemingly bracing for the worst.
“We’re bringing wealth back to America. That’s a big thing,” he continued, “And there are always periods of, it takes a little time.”
Wall Street pessimism continued until the stock market closed on Monday, with the unresolved tariff tit-for-tat between Canada, Mexico and the United States hanging like a cloud over investors.
The Nasdaq had its worst day since 2022, falling 4%, while the S&P 500 plunged almost 3%.
Even the most-watched Magnificent 7 stocks—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Nvidia and Tesla—all dropped, with Tesla taking the biggest hit on a 15% tumble.
Elon Musk’s company, which saw a stock surge after the election, lost all of its gains since November.
“President Trump’s comments not necessarily taking a recession off the table unnerved investors who were already unnerved,” Anthony Saglimbene, chief market strategist at Ameriprise, told CNN. Wall Street’s fear gauge, otherwise known as the VIX, is also only going up this year.
Howard Lutnick, the US commerce secretary, tried to walk back Trump’s admission that a recession appears possible in the near future.
“There’s going to be no recession in America,” he said on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday. “Anybody who bets against Donald Trump, it’s like the same people who thought Donald Trump wasn’t going to win a year ago … you are going to see over the next two years the greatest set of growth coming from America … I would never bet on recession, no chance.”
