Political commentator Bill O’Reilly said Monday that he thinks President Trump was “caught by surprise” by the sliding stock market after he announced his sweeping global tariff plan earlier this month.
In an interview on NewsNation’s “On Balance with Leland Vittert,” O’Reilly pushed back on the suggestion that Trump bears responsibility for not warning Americans to anticipate some economic turbulence in response to his tariff announcements, which he later paused.
“I think President Trump was caught by surprise in the markets,” O’Reilly told Vittert when asked about the level of Trump’s responsibility in the matter.
“And he pivoted fast once [Treasury Secretary Scott] Bessent told him you got to [pivot] because the U.S. dollar and the bonds and everything else, and he did, but I don’t think he anticipated the stock market falling the way it did,” O’Reilly added.
The remarks came during a conversation about the president’s declining approval rating, which has highlighted Americans’ simmering frustration with Trump’s handling of the economy.
O’Reilly told Vittert the American people are valid to be concerned about the economy and have reflected that in Trump’s polling numbers. But the longtime media host said Trump has an opportunity to turn his polling around, if his plan for the economy works out.
“This stock market went down in a horrifying manner and no one was prepared for it,” O’Reilly said, later adding, “People have a right to be fearful. It’s not the media that’s driving the fear. It’s people’s hard-earned money declining on paper.”
“But it’s not ingrained,” he continued. “It isn’t like Joe Biden, who was a failure from top to bottom, and nothing was ever going to get better under Joe Biden because he didn’t confront the problems. He ignored them entirely.”
“Trump can drive economic prosperity if things go his way, which means deals,” O’Reilly concluded. “And they keep promising that deals are going to be announced. I believe some will be — all right, that’s my information — and he believes that … when the [economy] turns around, it’s going to be a roar. Now, if he’s wrong, it’s over.”
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