President Donald Trump has repeatedly boasted about the stock market's gains during his presidency but he is not actually focusing on it, the White House said Tuesday.
One day after the Dow lost a record 1,175.21 points, White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley appeared on Fox Business Network to discuss the plunge.
"Obviously the president did tout the stock market, but I would hardly say that he focused on it," Gidley said. "But let's be honest, I watched yesterday in my office … there's a cross on my television with four different networks in the box. They went wall to wall with coverage of the stock market declining.
"Now I understand that's big news, but where were they when it was going up? They didn't say a word about that. So, they're trying to discredit this president and his economic prowess and what he's been able to do."
Gidley added that Trump "was involved and responsible for the increase in the stock market, but also in the overall economy, which as you know had been growing at anemic levels under the Barack Obama administration."
Experts said Monday's Wall Street losses do not mean it's time for investors to panic. Economic guru Jeremy Siegel even said Americans should consider buying stocks during the volatile time.
Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas, indicated the red numbers were a positive byproduct of the tax reform legislation Trump signed into law before Christmas.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.