'Uncertainty shock': Economist says investors have 'enormous crisis of confidence' in Trump

The business world is becoming increasingly wary of President Donald Trump's ability to handle the economy and stabilize financial markets, according to one expert.

On Wednesday, MSNBC host Ana Cabrera delved into the ongoing rollercoaster ride that has had investors panicking over the drastic spikes and drops in the stock market since Trump announced his "Liberation Day" tariffs in early April. NBC News senior business correspondent began by acknowledging that despite the "tone shift" from the administration regarding Trump's trade war with China, "nothing has really changed" when it comes to the existing 145% tariff on Chinese imports and China's retaliatory 125% tariff on American-made goods.

"The president has really dug in over the last couple of weeks that this was going to be the way of the future, and if you don't like it, make it here in America. Now he's talking about bringing those tariffs down," Romans said. "Are the negotiating teams talking? Are they working? For now, this is all still headlines."

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CEOs of major retail chains like Walmart and Target have met privately with Trump and urged him to make a deal with China soon, or else Americans would be facing rows of empty shelves as soon as this summer. This has reportedly served as a key motivating factor for Trump to indicate warmth toward extending an olive branch to Chinese President Xi Jinping and preemptively offering to withdraw some of the tariffs he's imposed on the United States' major trade partner.

"When you talk about those big retailers, they are the tip of the spear," Romans told Cabrera. "That's essentially a trade embargo between the two largest economies in the world."

According to University of Michigan economics and public policy professor Justin Wolfers, a de-escalation in the trade war would be welcome news to many in the business world who have grown weary of the "uncertainty" that has accompanied Trump's economic agenda. He observed that most corporate executives are now spending a bulk of their time "figuring out how to respond to the White House" rather than "manage their companies."

"There's not just a tariff shock going on right now. There's also an enormous uncertainty shock. Nobody knows what policy is going to be today or tomorrow," Wolfers said. "And there's just an enormous crisis of confidence in the administration, which I think is really going to pull back on the extent to which people are going to invest."

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Watch the segment below, or by clicking this link.