Trump’s Timing with Truth Social Posts and Market Reactions
President Trump seems to have developed a pattern of making timed posts on Truth Social to soothe investors just before the U.S. stock market opens at 9:30 a.m. EST. On March 23, he dialed down his threatening rhetoric toward Iran’s energy infrastructure, claiming that the U.S. and Iran were engaged in “very good and productive” discussions regarding a ceasefire.
He stated, “I AM PLEASED TO REPORT THAT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND THE COUNTRY OF IRAN, HAVE HAD, OVER THE LAST TWO DAYS, VERY GOOD AND PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS REGARDING A COMPLETE AND TOTAL RESOLUTION OF OUR HOSTILITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST.” Unsurprisingly, the markets reacted positively, and the S&P 500 experienced a significant surge.
But, not long after, Iran’s Foreign Ministry issued a denial that any negotiations were taking place. This unexpected turn led to market volatility, wiping out about a trillion dollars in market cap.
This is absolutely insane:
At 7:04 AM ET today, President Trump said “the US and Iran have had productive discussions” to end the Iran War.
By 7:10 AM ET, the S&P 500 surged +240 points adding +$2 TRILLION in market cap.
27 minutes later, Iran completely denied all of… pic.twitter.com/yFpqpJo6aG
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) March 23, 2026
On March 30, Trump made another timely Truth Social post, combining a major threat with an assertion of ongoing “serious discussions” with Iran. He declared, “The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran. Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately ‘Open for Business,’ we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!).”
There it is…
“We’re in serious discussions with Iran to end the war” truth social post an hour before markets open on Monday morning.
A new weekly tradition. pic.twitter.com/ZPi3OUlmYH
— Geiger Capital (@Geiger_Capital) March 30, 2026
Once again, Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied that any negotiations were occurring. At the time of writing, the market seems somewhat jittery, with rising oil prices. However, ahead of the Monday opening bell, the S&P 500 futures were looking up, likely attributed to Trump’s remarks.
Interestingly, Trump has a history of timing his most significant threats and statements for weekends when the stock market is closed. The Iran War started early on a Saturday morning, and one of his initial threats to destroy Iranian power plants also came on a Saturday. Timing and messaging seem to be calculated strategies from Trump’s camp to minimize economic fallout, but these tactics might not hold forever. If the conflict continues, as many believe it will, those well-timed posts may not be enough to reassure investors in the long run.
