Morgan Stanley's Wilson: Trump doesn't care about the stock market

Fortune ^ | March 25, 2025 | Eleanor Pringle

[TheRef]

While President Trump’s ever-evolving tariff policy isn’t exactly helping markets right now, Morgan Stanley chief investment officer Mike Wilson says they aren’t the root cause of economic uncertainty.

What's causing analysts and economists to pause is the realization that the White House “doesn’t care” about the stock market, Wilson said.

Speaking after he won the Oval Office, the rhetoric continued. In early January he told reporters: “Since my election, the stock market has set records. The S&P 500 index has broken above 6,000 points for the first time ever, never even close.” Yet in more recent weeks with criticism of his tariff plan piling up, President Trump has been relatively less occupied with the health of the market—even admitting there will be “a little disturbance, but we’re okay with that.”

Wall Street is certainly not okay with it, however: The market has corrected itself from its peak in November last year, with GDP expectations being revised down and inflation figures being bumped up.

Speaking to CNBC’s ‘Fast Money,’ Wilson explained: “Everybody’s talking about tariffs right now but the reason markets are lower over the course of the last three or four months has nothing to do with tariffs. “It’s mostly to do with the fact that earnings revisions have rolled over, the Fed stopped curling rates, you had stricter enforcement on immigration, you have DOGE. All those things are growth negative. And then tariffs are the final piece that…got people really bearish in the end.”

But the typically bearish investment officer added: “I would say the thing that really got the S&P going down at the very end was when it became clear that the president does not care about the stock market, at least for now. That lack of a Trump put was really new news to people.”

[Paladin2]

Main Street.

[Resolute Conservative]

Is that a bad thing? Trump worries about America not your portfolio.

[brownsfan]

Nor do I, (and that’s where I’ve put my money). It is my opinion that if main street is taken care of, Wall Street will come along.

[stevio]

You mean like the democrat’s Walz who hopes Tesla stock crashes?

[jpl]

The stock market is more massively overvalued than at any time in history and anyone with a brain knows this. It’s why Warren Buffett has been a net seller of equities for nine quarters straight.

[grobdriver]

the White House “doesn’t care” about the stock market

Day traders hardest hit.

Trump is playing the long game. Get over it. we'll check back in 6 months, depending on how much disruption the democrats offer.

[bray]

Liberals hardest hit.

[Brian Griffin]

America needs to reindustrialize and internationally balance commercial financial flows.

[Brian Griffin]

Trump wants a strong domestic economy.

That would be great for the stock market.

[Bob434]

Y3ah wi,son, he’s such a big old poopie head meanie snotface! Orange man baaaaad! Never give up the lying agenda sir! And do be sure to stomp yer foot and scream about it often!

[richardtavor]

Wall Street tried to install Hillary as President, as well as Biden. Conservatives used to believe that Wall Street = Conservative values, and that is often not the case.

[Brian Griffin]

Trump needs to do his job.

CEOs need to do their jobs.

Ordinary Americans need jobs to do and to do them.

[logi_cal869]

The ‘market’ is fixed and has little bearing on international trade. In fact, it will benefit within the year.

STHU, Mikey.

[Hazwaste]

A stock market built upon devalued dollars is a mirage.

[rlmorel]

That was my first thought too: "So?"

Trump cares about what underlies the Stock Market-American industry, the American consumer, and the path forward financially as publicly laid out by the US Government.

Caring about the Stock Market as a way to drive it to greater heights is like adopting the notion that college graduates make more money, so everyone has to go to college and graduate with a degree. Correlation does not imply Causation. Sure-if the Stock Market goes up, people can make money, but if it is being built on a house of cards like consumer spending and service industries alone instead of a solid industrial base, it will fail. It will not bring true prosperity in the long run.

Trump knows the government job pool is not an "Industry". It adds no wealth to the nation. He knows we cannot simply exist as a service and consumer economy. We must have Industry. We must produce things that add to the wealth of the nation. Trump wants to re-industrialize this country. And he is doing it.

Trump wants to ensure American consumers have enough money to spend on products in order to raise prosperity, confidence, and savings.

Trump wants to lay out the path forward in cutting government waste, reducing spending, cutting the size of government, and cutting the overwhelming burden of regulation. He wants to promote mining. He wants to promote domestic energy production. He wants to make all of that public so Wall Street and Business at all levels can look at all these things in a very public way, so all of them see a path to prosperity and can willingly and happily follow it so everyone wins.

And when all this happens, this nation wins, everyone wins, the world wins because a stable and prosperous United States is good for the world. Obama was seen reading this book years ago:

During the four years of the Biden Administration (The 3rd term of the Obama Administration) everyone in the world, including enemies both foreign and domestic, sees what happens when the most powerful and nationally moral country on Earth checks it's responsibilities at the door: Economic disaster and a world in flames.

So these things above is what Trump and his administration care about. They don't care about the Stock Market, because if they do all the things they promise, they don't have to care about the Stock Market. It will make money.

[Empire_of_Liberty]

America needs more private corporate ownership.

[Mr. K]

It’s interesting how they can read his mind

[Mr. K]

It’s interesting how they can read his mind

[richardtavor]

One doesn’t make money when he buys stock. Only when he sells it for more than he bought it.