US President Donald Trump blamed the midterm elections for a reported three trillion USD (2.69 trillion EUR) wipeout in US stock market value on Friday, joking that the plunge suggested his political opponents performed well.
“Our country lost three trillion USD all because of an election. I wonder what that means. If we would have gained three trillion USD, I probably would have been more unhappy,” Trump said during a speech at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre in Merritt Island.
“But you know what that means? That means that they thought somebody else did well in an election,” he quipped.
Trump then distanced himself from the Republican Party’s electoral setbacks, insisting the outcome would have been different had he been running.
“By the way, I was not on the ballot just in case you had any question. Because if we were on the ballot, we would have won,” he declared.
Trump also touted his economic record, claiming the US added 165,000 jobs in October, including 19,000 manufacturing positions, and that it received 22.2 trillion USD (19.9 trillion EUR) in investment commitments since his return to office.
The remarks followed Tuesday’s midterm elections, in which Democrats secured control of both chambers of Congress.
Thursday’s market sell-off reportedly wiped nearly three trillion USD off the value of S&P 500 companies, with the Nasdaq plunging 5.5 percent as investors feared Democratic control of Congress could threaten AI investment and expansion.
US stocks showed signs of recovery on Friday, although uncertainty over future AI regulation continued to weigh on markets.
Source: Viory
