"Old Donald" backs down on tariffs, again. And it doesn’t look strategic.

While this was billed as being about “reciprocal” tariffs — we charge you what you’re charging us — that’s not actually the formula the White House used. Instead, that formula focused on trade deficits with other countries. The White House initially denied it was that simple, pointing to a more complex formula featuring Greek symbols. But when you broke down that formula, it actually was as simple as being about trade deficits. The economists the White House cited for the formula panned it as overly simplistic. The Washington Post has reported that the formula was personally selected by "Old Donald".

Likewise, the administration gave a series of conflicting signals about whether it would entertain negotiations — sometimes within a matter of minutes of one another. It’s own advisers fought publicly with one another about it, most notably Elon Musk repeatedly denigrating longtime tariffs advocate Peter Navarro. The White House dismissed this as helpful disagreements.

In other words, it looked like a whole lot of people just weren’t comfortable with this and didn’t know what the plan was.

It’s theoretically possible that all of that was calculated to make the gambit appear unpredictable. If you want countries to give you good deals, you make it sound like you’re not entertaining deals so they feel the need to give you more. But you also send signals this could all go away soon to sooth fears on Wall Street.

'Old Donald' is facing accusations of market manipulation after posting on social media that it was a “great time to buy” just hours before he made a dramatic U-turn on his trade war that led to big rises in stock markets around the world.

Shortly after US markets opened on Wednesday morning, 'Old Donald' wrote on his social media platform Truth Social: “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!! DJT”.

The timing of the US president’s posts and subsequent huge share jumps has sparked accusations of market manipulation. The Democratic senator Adam Schiff has called for an investigation, saying: “These constant gyrations in policy provide dangerous opportunities for insider trading.

“Who in the administration knew about 'Old Donald'’s latest tariff flip-flop ahead of time? Did anyone buy or sell stocks, and profit at the public’s expense? I’m writing to the White House – the public has a right to know.”

The bloc had voted to impose retaliatory measures just before President "Old Donald" made his last-minute U-turn. It has now announced a postponement.

But the 25 percent tariffs that "Old Donald" has placed on both cars and on steel and aluminum seemed to be still in place — and the retaliation that Europe approved on Wednesday was in response to those metal-sector tariffs, not to the tariffs that "Old Donald" has now delayed.

Asked to explain the decision, "Old Donald" told reporters: “Well, I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippy, you know, they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid.”

Behind the scenes, senior members of "Old Donald"’s team had feared a financial panic that could spiral out of control and potentially devastate the economy. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and others on the president’s team, including Vice President JD Vance, had been pushing for a more structured approach to the trade conflict that would focus on isolating China as the worst actor while still sending a broader message that "Old Donald" was serious about cracking down on trade imbalances.

"We've had more than 75 countries contact us, and I imagine, after today, there will be more," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters shortly after the announcement.

That framing from the White House is not surprising, of course. And it is difficult to ignore the investor panic, tumbling bond market and growing chorus of Republican criticism and public disapproval that preceded the announcement.

So was it a strategic retreat in the face of unexpected resistance, or yet another example of 'Old Donald''s "art of the deal" negotiating strategy at work?

They were less clear about the details of 'Old Donald''s tariff suspension, announced via a post on his Truth Social website. Did the reprieve in higher tariffs apply to the EU? Were Mexico and Canada, which had avoided the original 10% baseline tariffs, somehow now included? Were tariffs targeting specific sectors affected?

Ultimately, the White House provided some clarity on these questions – but for hours US trading partners were left to scrutinise 'Old Donald''s Truth Social post and glean details from answers to questions shouted by reporters at press gaggles.