Did Trump just short the world?
In what may go down as the most profitable typo in history, US president Donald Trump ignited a stock market rally with a cryptic all-caps message on his Truth Social platform Wednesday morning that netted investors a cool USD$4 trillion — and his own company a half billion — in a matter of minutes:
“THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT”
At the time of the post, markets were wobbling, investors were sweating and Wall Street was wondering if a trade war-fuelled-financial-apocalypse was about to unfold.
Just hours later, Trump abruptly announced a 90-day pause on nearly all countries — sending markets into a frenzied rally that turned a cool $4 trillion for those in the know.
But the question on everyone’s minds Thursday was whether “DJT” in the Tweet refer to the markets, or his own stock ticker symbol? The ambiguity is at the heart of US economic policy.
And it also raises the question of whether it was a mere coincidence or a short-selling masterclass that makes The Big Short look like amateur hour.
Short selling, for the less financially inclined, is when an investor bets against an asset —borrowing shares to sell at today’s price with the hope of buying them back on the cheap later.
If Trump had indeed shorted the market before his tariffs dropped, then cashed in on the rebound, it would truly be ’Yuge’. “If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big,” as The Donald himself likes to say.
Of course, there’s no public evidence Trump shorted anything, though his critics suggest otherwise. What’s clear is that someone saw it coming, least of all Trump himself.
When asked when he decided on the tariff pause, Trump replied with all the clarity of a Magic 8 Ball: “I would say this morning. Over the last few days, I’ve been thinking about it… Fairly early this morning.”
Less than 20 minutes before the tariff pause was announced, call volumes on the Nasdaq (bets the market will go up) spiked — triggering red flags for regulators and outrage from lawmakers.
Minutes later, markets didn’t just recover — they partied like it was 1929 (the good part):
• S&P 500: Up 9.5% — its biggest one-day gain since 2008 and the third-best in its entire history.
• Nasdaq: Surged 12.2%, second only to its pandemic-fuelled rebound in 2020.
• Dow Jones: Soared nearly 2,900 points (+7.8%).
• Canada’s main TSX: Rose 5.1%, despite Trump excluding Canada from his tariff pause. Investors may want to start watching Ottawa for short-selling cues.
Among the big gainers? Trump Media & Technology Group (ticker: DJT) which shot up 22.67%, adding $415 million to the president’s paper wealth via his 53% stake. That’s despite being a company that lost $400 million last year and has nothing to do with trade tariffs.
Even Trump supporters admit the rebound was “stunning,” though economists warn the economic wounds from his self-proclaimed economic ‘Declaration of Independence’ exactly one week ago are far from healed.
Economists say the US is still staring down recession risks, and Trump’s tariff pause — while dramatic — isn’t a full rollback. China, for one, is still saddled with a whopping 125% tariff while Canada still faces extraneous duties on cars amd aluminium and steel, not to mention 10% tariffs on potash and energy.
The bottom line is that Trump may not have shorted the market, but he certainly left traders wondering if he shorted Canada and China.
As one trader quipped: “It’s not a rally. It’s a reflex.”
In true Trump fashion, Trump himself summed up the chaos with a self-congratulatory mic-drop. “I guess they say it was the biggest day in financial history… Nobody’s ever heard of it. It’s gonna be a record.”
Indeed, it was.