Trump hits golf course as stock market plummets for second straight day over tariffs

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Two days after sending the economy reeling by announcing widespread tariffs, President Donald Trump insisted his trade policies will never change as he remained ensconced in a bubble of wealth and power in Florida.He woke up on Friday morning at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, and headed to his nearby golf course a few miles away after writing on social media that “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH.”Several supporters stood on the sidewalk as Trump, wearing his signature red “Make America Great Again” hat and white polo shirt, glided down a street lined with palm trees. They waved to him and he waved back, part of a ritual that plays out every weekend that he’s in town.The Republican president was not expected to appear publicly, although he’s scheduled to attend a candlelit dinner for MAGA Inc., an allied political organization, on Friday evening. He spent Thursday in Miami at a different one of his golf courses, where he attended a Saudi-funded tournament. He landed in Marine One and was picked up in a golf cart driven by his son Eric.

Democrats called out Trump for being in a “billionaire bubble

Democrats called out Trump for being in a “billionaire bubble,” as Sen. Chuck Schumer put it, while millions watched their investments sink.“While the American people are trying to put food on the table, I see that Donald Trump’s out there playing golf,” said Sen. Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat from New Mexico. “The president should be listening to people across the country. Maybe he should go into a grocery store, do some walking, talking to folks.”Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday that the tariffs were “significantly larger than expected” and are “highly likely” to cause more inflation — at least in the short term but possibly in the long term as well.However, Trump has described his policies as a painful yet necessary step to encourage companies to relocate their operations to the United States. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Tucker Carlson in an interview released Friday that “I think we have to try this, and I have a high confidence ratio it’s going to work.”The president spent Friday morning defending himself on Truth Social, his social media platform, and vowing to stay the course.