Trump Lauds ‘Tidal Wave of Good News’ While Dow Plummets

• February 05 2018
• Jennifer Jacobs

President Donald Trump promoted “a tidal wave of good news” on the economy Monday as U.S. stocks plummeted in the second day of a sell-off.

President Donald Trump promoted “a tidal wave of good news” on the economy Monday as U.S. stocks plummeted in the second day of a sell-off.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 1,500 points at one point during his speech at Sheffer Corp., a manufacturing plant in Blue Ash, Ohio. Both the Dow and the broader S&P 500 touched levels during the speech that erased their entire gain for the year.

Though Trump often boasts of the surge in stocks since his election, he didn’t mention the market during his speech. Even with the recent losses, U.S. stocks are up since Trump’s election. The Dow rose more than 25 percent last year.

Trump told workers at the factory the Republican tax overhaul “set off” a wave of favorable economic news. He cited a commitment Apple Inc. announced in January to invest $350 billion in its U.S. operations and also lauded bonuses some companies have given workers since the tax overhaul was passed.

Trump wants to keep highlighting companies that have doled out employee bonuses and cited the tax cuts as the reason, White House aides said. Four corporate chief executives, each of whom paid employees $1,000 bonuses, were at the event: Jeff Norris of Sheffer; Greg Carmichael of Fifth Third Bancorp; Christopher Irion of e-Cycle; and Matt Schron of Jergens Inc.

The event was the president’s second day trip to advance the GOP tax bill he signed in December and his third visit to Ohio since taking office. He visited a bellwether voting district in western Pennsylvania last month.

First lady Melania Trump traveled with the president to Ohio to pursue a different agenda. She visited a children’s hospital in Cincinnati and participated in a briefing with physicians on opioid addiction.