April 8th, 2025.

Stocks were up early today as traders put their hopes in Treasury Secretary Scott Besson's

suggestion that the Trump administration was open to negotiations for lowering Trump's proposed

tariffs. But then U.S. Trade Representative

Jameson Greer said there would not be exemptions from the tariffs for individual products or

companies, and President Donald J. Trump said he was going forward with 104% tariffs on China,

effective at 12.01 a.m. on Wednesday.

Markets fell again. By the end of the day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had fallen by

another 320 points, or 0.8 percent, a 52-week low. The S&P 500 fell 1.6 percent, and the NASDAQ composite fell 2.2%.

Rob Copeland, Maureen Farrell, and Lauren Hirsch of the New York Times reported today that

over the weekend, Wall Street billionaires tried desperately and unsuccessfully to change

Trump's mind on tariffs.

This week, they have begun to go public, calling out what they call the stupidity of the new

measures. These industry leaders, the reporters write, did not expect Trump to place such high

tariffs on so many products and are shocked to find themselves outside the

corridors of power where the tariff decisions have been made. Elon Musk is one of the people

Trump is ignoring to side with Peter Navarro, his senior counselor for trade and manufacturing.

Navarro went to prison for refusing to answer a congressional subpoena for information regarding

Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Since Musk poured $290 million into getting

Trump elected in 2024 and then burst into the news with his Department of Government

Efficiency, he has seemed to be in control of

the administration. But he has stolen the limelight from Trump, and it appears Trump's patience with him

...