The manufactured pause: Yesterday, news spread that the Trump administration was considering a 90-day pause to its implementation of the most massive round of tariffs, currently set to go into effect tomorrow. The market started climbing back up as the news made the rounds and was relayed by CNBC and Reuters. The only trouble was that this was made up and amplified on X, with no bearing in reality.
It looks like the posts came from an actual Fox News interview with National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett in which he was asked whether the president would "consider a 90-day pause in tariffs." Hassett replied: "The president is going to decide what the president is going to decide." ("I would urge everyone, especially Bill [Ackman], to ease off the rhetoric a little bit," he added. "It's the idea that it's going to be a 'nuclear winter' or something like that is completely irresponsible rhetoric.")
An X post from "Hammer Capital" (handle: "yourfavorito") with about 1,000 followers appears to have originated the 90-day pause rumor circa 10:11 a.m. ET.
