President Donald Trump sparked fresh controversy Friday after reposting a viral video claiming he’s intentionally crashing the stock market — not out of incompetence, but as part of a strategic economic masterstroke designed to benefit the middle class and shake up the Federal Reserve.
The video, originally posted to TikTok and shared to X, comes from a pro-Trump account and features narration lifted from a March Instagram post by finance influencer Brian Decker. It makes the bold claim that Trump is deliberately orchestrating a 20% market drop in order to redirect capital into U.S. treasuries, trigger interest rate cuts, and force a major shift in the economy that benefits ordinary Americans over the ultra-rich.
Trump reshared the clip on Truth Social Thursday night, not only amplifying the theory but seemingly endorsing it. Adding to the intrigue, senior Trump adviser Jason Miller praised the video, saying, “Genius! You have to watch this video!”
The Theory: Crash the Market to Help Main Street
The video’s narrator claims Trump’s new tariff policy and the resulting market turmoil are part of a high-level strategy. According to the theory, Trump is:
- Forcing money into Treasury bonds, which compels the Fed to cut interest rates.
- Lowering mortgage rates and weakening the dollar to improve domestic purchasing power.
- Triggering onshoring of industry, as companies look to avoid punitive tariffs.
- Boosting domestic agriculture, with tariffs pressuring farmers to sell within the U.S., driving down grocery costs.
- “Redistributing wealth” from Wall Street to the middle class via lower prices and stronger U.S.-made production.
The video even ends with the line: “Trump is taking from the rich short-term and handing it to the middle class through lower prices.”
While the clip went viral and was lauded in pro-Trump circles, some of its claims raise eyebrows — especially one alleging Warren Buffett praised Trump’s economic moves as “the best he’s seen in 50 years.” No such public statement exists. In fact, Buffett recently warned on CBS News that tariffs are “an act of war” and described them as “a tax on goods.”
Still, the underlying theory — that Trump is employing economic chaos to force lower rates and restructure debt — isn’t entirely dismissed by market watchers.
Ben McMillan, chief investment officer at IDX Advisors, told Business Insider, “It’s definitely not some sort of fringe conspiracy theory… It’s a coin flip as to whether or not it’s the intention, but there have been some data points that suggest it’s a non-trivial possibility.”
Nomura strategist Charlie McElligott made a similar point in March, arguing that Trump could be maneuvering for a Fed-induced recession to weaken the dollar and lower inflation.
Economic Chaos as Political Leverage?
The timing of Trump’s post is hard to ignore. Just one day earlier, he unveiled a sweeping round of reciprocal tariffs under his “Liberation Day” trade initiative, hitting dozens of nations with increased import penalties. The result? Global markets tanked, and U.S. stocks suffered a historic multi-trillion-dollar wipeout.
Critics, naturally, accuse Trump of economic recklessness. But supporters argue this is exactly the point — a strategic shock designed to realign American interests, punish global free-riders, and force a Fed response that strengthens the domestic economy.
That appears to be the message Trump reinforced Friday morning when he posted, “This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates.”
Reality Check: Conspiracy or Calculated Strategy?
While outlets like Forbes have pushed back on factual inaccuracies in the video, they concede that the underlying result — collapsing Treasury yields — has materialized. And yes, lower borrowing costs could help refinance U.S. debt, even if there are other (less dramatic) ways to achieve the same outcome.
Whether Trump truly orchestrated a “controlled demolition” of the market is up for debate. But there’s no denying he’s using economic leverage as a political tool — and he’s signaling to voters that it’s all part of a master plan to rebuild American strength from the inside out.
And with 94% of stock market wealth concentrated in the hands of just 8% of Americans, there may be more people rooting for a shake-up than the mainstream press would like to admit.
