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Back in February 2016, during the Republican presidential primaries, I wrote about the fatigue some Trump supporters and possible Trump supporters felt amid the daily controversy surrounding his candidacy. Here's the relevant passage:
Everyone has a certain tolerance level for uncertainty, disorder, and controversy. If a candidate's campaign stays below that level, all is fine. If it climbs above that level, a voter may begin to think a candidate is more trouble than he's worth. The voter sees the campaign as a taxing experience — it's just one thing after another — and looks for an alternative choice. The problem is, Trump has an apparently infinite tolerance for uncertainty, disorder, and controversy. He can be comfortable and prosper in a campaign that just wears some of his voters out.
That was written nearly a year before President Donald Trump took office the first time. But it still applies today, perhaps even more so, as a second-term Trump rushes forward with his new agenda.
It should be noted early on that most of the daily controversy surrounding Trump is the work of a political opposition and biased news media determined to bring him down. He has to fight that every day. But even beyond that opposition, which goes on at a level never seen before in prior administrations, it is also true that Trump himself can act with a speed and abruptness that unnerves some supporters.
You know how much has gone on in less than 100 days of the new term — the executive orders, the movement on all fronts against illegal immigration, bloated government, the fight against woke, international relations, and now, tariffs. The broad range of action has made many Trump supporters very happy. "The most wonderful 100 days in U.S. history," conservative commentator Ann Coulter said recently. Coulter has been up and down regarding Trump over the last nine years, but she's definitely up now.
But just like in 2016, the sheer level of activity can strain the senses of many people, including those who support Trump. And the stress level has undoubtedly gone up in the last month of tariffs.
Wild swings in the stock market are worrisome for the millions of people, over 60%, who own stocks in some form and may also be retired or planning for retirement. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 2,231 points on April 4. It went down 1,679 points the day before. It was down 1,014 points on April 10.
On the other side, the Dow went up 2,963 points on April 9 — the biggest single-day gain in history. It went up 619 points on April 11. It went up 1,016 points today after plunging 971 points yesterday.
The cause of the decline on Monday was Trump's escalation of attacks on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. The cause of the rise on Tuesday was Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's hint that the trade standoff with China might get better soon. The markets are all jitters and emotions. Trump or his top aides can cause huge changes with even brief comments.
Perhaps Trump got the message because on Tuesday he reassuringly said of Powell, "I have no intention of firing him." Trump did say he would like to see Powell be "a little more active" in terms of lowering interest rates, but the main message — I don't intend to fire the Fed chairman — is an obvious attempt to calm the markets. It will probably work.
That's a good thing — there's no good reason to fire Powell, whose term expires in May of next year anyway. But there seems little doubt Trump will say something tomorrow, or the next day, or soon, that will rattle people and markets once again. You may ask yourself — why does he do it when it so clearly makes many people, even his supporters, nervous? And the answer is, first of all, that he believes his policies will work in the long run and the nation will be better off.
But the second answer is that he is who he is. Donald Trump has been quite successful being himself, and he is not going to stop now.