The stock market faced a dramatic selloff following President Trump's announcement of retaliatory tariffs on April 2, 2025, raising fears of a potential global trade war.

In the wake of this announcement, the S&P 500 plummeted nearly 6% on April 4, after a 4.8% decline the previous day, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped nearly 12%, officially entering bear market territory.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average also experienced a significant downturn, falling approximately 2,231 points, or 5.5%, marking its largest decline since June 2020.

Amidst this turmoil, a video that surfaced on TikTok in March falsely claimed that Trump was intentionally orchestrating the market decline as part of a broader economic strategy.

In response to these claims, White House National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett asserted that the stock market crash is not a deliberate tactic by Trump.

Hassett emphasized that the president's primary objective is to benefit American workers, firmly denying any intention to tank the market.

These remarks were made during an interview on ABC's 'This Week' on April 6, 2025, shortly after Trump shared the controversial video on Truth Social.

The TikTok video suggested that Trump's actions would redirect cash into treasuries, which would subsequently lead to lower interest rates from the Federal Reserve.