Trump's Social Media Post Had An Unexpected Effect On The Stock Market

President Trump's ongoing roller coaster with China has been sending the stock market — not to mention TikTok — through its own volatile ride. On October 10, Trump threatened a significant escalation of tariffs against China — threatening to raise tariffs by as much as 100%. This threat sent the Dow plummeting 879 points, and even led Bespoke Investment Group to state on X that "The US stock market lost roughly $2 trillion in the market cap today following this post from the president." This outsized threat was made as a result of China's announced restrictions on exporting rare earth minerals — often used to make things like glass, batteries, cell phones, and even car parts — to foreign countries ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference at the end of October 2025. However, despite all of this, Trump quickly shifted gears over the weekend — leaving the stock market to rise like a rocket in response. 

Trump proclaimed, via Truth Social, on Sunday, October 12, 2025, "Don't worry about China, it will all be fine! Highly respected President Xi just had a bad moment. He doesn't want Depression for his country, and neither do I. The U.S.A. wants to help China, not hurt it!!!" This singular social media post — following Trump's increasingly ramped up threats of expanded tariffs on Chinese goods — led the Dow Jones Industrial Average to soar more than 500 points on Monday, or the equivalent of recouping about 70% of its Friday losses.

China's tightening of rare earths exports is most likely a negotiation tactic, per international experts. In fact, the U.S.'s September decision to tighten controls on the export of chip making equipment to China can largely be pointed to as the reason for China's most recent rare earths restrictions. Plus, goods from China are already being hit with tariffs that average around 58%, as of September 2025, per a Peterson Institute for International Economics analysis. With that said, this isn't the first time China has restricted its rare earths. The Chinese government actually restricted seven rare earth minerals in April 2025, which slowed global manufacturing until Beijing temporarily reversed course a few months later. This has understandably left more and more companies concerned about the ramifications of tariffs.

In the meantime, the Pentagon is attempting to stock pile $1 billion worth of critical minerals and materials in order to combat China's threat. At the same time, the stock prices of U.S.-based rare-earth companies continue to climb, with JPMorgan Chase declaring it would invest nearly $10 billion into industries that are crucial to national security — including digging up needed minerals.