US President Donald Trump has spoken out to address the backlash he has received over what he posted online while playing golf despite the stock market crashing.
On Wednesday, American president Trump revealed he would be introducing a series of new reciprocal tariffs on several countries countries across the world on a day he labelled as 'Liberation Day'.
While the tariffs caused crashes across several of the world's biggest stock market indexes, such as the FTSE 100 in the UK or S&P 500 in the US, Trump decided to play a round of golf, leading to outrage online.
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But now the 78-year-old has spoken out to address the backlash in an official statement about the rapidly declining markets.
In response to Trump's tariffs, The Telegraph report that the FTSE 100 - the leading UK stock market index - fell by as much as 6.3 per cent to a one-year low on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Wall Street’s S&P 500 index saw its worst two-day plunge since March 2020, meaning thousands of investors across the world will have potentially lost shocking amounts of money because of Trump's new tariffs.
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But, despite backlash from supporters and critics alike, Trump has urged the American public to stand firm and hold onto their investments with a statement released on his social media platform.
Posting on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "The United States has a chance to do something that should have been done DECADES AGO.
"Don’t be Weak! Don’t be Stupid! Don’t be a PANICAN (A new party based on Weak and Stupid people!). Be Strong, Courageous, and Patient, and GREATNESS will be the result!"
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Trump hit the United Kingdom with a 10% reciprocal tariff, the joint lowest amount given to any of the 25 countries impacted by the decision.
Explaining why he has decided to impose the tariffs, the 47th US president said that he plans to reduced the gap between the value of imported items from each individual country and the value of those exported to the same country.
But, as has been the case on several occasions during his second term in the White House, Trump appeared to spend his weekend on the golf course instead of addressing the major financial fallout of his announcement.
Topics: Donald Trump, Golf
Ben McCrum