No coincidence. The markets (NYSE and Nasdaq) close at 4pm ET Monday-Friday. Yesterday when the bell rang, Wall Street had taken a beating. The Dow dipped 469.38 points, or 1.01%. It was the largest daily drop since the war with Iran began. 12 minutes later, Trump posted on Truth Social announcing he’d put 10 more days on the clock from his already extended deadline for “Energy Plant destruction”. The first deadline he imposed was for 7:44 pm ET Monday night. But Monday morning, before the markets opened, he backed off that deadline and put 5 days on the clock, causing oil prices to slide and stocks to rise. No doubt he hopes that the markets will similarly reward him today. So set a reminder for April 6 at 8pm ET. Or not. Remember, back on February 19, he issued a verbal ultimatum to Iran during the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace. He said the world would find out if a “meaningful deal” was possible within “probably 10 days.” That set an informal deadline of March 1, but the U.S. and Israel struck one day prior, on February 28. And other examples abound of Trump acting on his own timeline, regardless of what he’s said. Last April, he announced massive tariffs (up to 145%) on Chinese goods to take effect on a specific date. But after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent entered negotiations in Geneva, Trump postponed that deadline for 90 days in May and then extended it again until November 2025 to keep the “very good relationship” with President Xi moving toward a deal. Call it erratic thinking or strategic ambiguity. The man marches to his own beat. Surely the Iranians get that by now.
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