Trump: 'Presidential harassment' is hurting the stock market
President Donald Trump is warning that stock markets will suffer from Democratic threats of lengthy investigations and legislative efforts to undo his administration’s policies.
The prospect of Presidential Harassment by the Dems is causing the Stock Market big headaches!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2018
Trump tweeted on Monday morning that the Democrats are causing “Stock Market big headaches!”
Since market open on Monday, markets had been trading down. As of 12:08 pm ET, the Dow lost 1.47%, the S&P 500 dipped 1.21%, and the Nasdaq declined 1.97%.
It is unclear exactly what Trump is referring to with “Presidential Harassment,” but the outcome of the midterm election has sparked discussion about how a Democratic House — which won’t take office until January — will address the next two years of Trump’s presidency.
California Democrat Maxine Waters, who will head the House Financial Services Committee, has expressed interest in hitting banks with subpoenas regarding Trump’s financial dealings, and the House Ways and Means Committee could now use its jurisdiction to demand Trump’s tax returns. At the House Judiciary Committee, Democrats have been adamant on protecting special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference.
A Democratic House also dims the legislative odds of advancing key White House agenda items like making the 2017 tax cuts permanent and enforcing more stringent immigration policies.
But a GOP-controlled Senate will likely block legislation from reaching Trump’s desk.
The new tweet is far from the first time Trump has opined on markets. In October, Trump tweeted about markets trading up on third-quarter earnings, noting that “Companies earnings are great!”
He has also taken credit for optimistic economics readings, pointing to a strong October jobs report as a reason for voters to support Republicans in the midterms.
“These are incredible numbers. Keep it going, Vote Republican!” Trump tweeted.
Brian Cheung is a reporter covering the banking industry and the intersection of finance and policy for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter @bcheungz.
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