Donald Trump might not care about being seen playing golf as the markets crash (see our previous post) – but he is worried about rumblings within the Republican Party, our US correspondent James Matthews says from the White House.
Bill Ackman, a Trump supporter and billionaire fund manager, has called for a pause on the tariffs, and Matthews says that “sentiment is echoed by Republicans who have found their voice in the last 72 hours”.
“There are rumblings of discontent and Trump is trying to face that down, with aggression,” Matthews says.
He notes that the markets have been something of a “spectator sport in the past hour”.
When a groundless report emerged that Trump was looking at a 90-day tariff pause, the “markets went from red to green” (read more on that in our earlier posts).
But when it was found to be false, it went “straight to red again”.
“That gives you a sense of the volatility,” Matthews adds.
