Before leaving the White House on Friday afternoon for Joint Base Andrews where he’s scheduled to board Marine One en route to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, President Trump – as is his custom – stopped on the White House lawn to answer questions from a gaggle of White House reporters.

With so much going on, it’s hardly surprising that the questions covered a lot of ground. But what was surprising was Trump’s distinctly aggressive stance on his trade-deal negotiations with both China and the EU just minutes before the market closed.

First, his comments on the trade talks with China:

TRUMP SAYS HE CAN RAISE CHINA TARIFFS ‘TO A MUCH HIGHER NUMBER’

TRUMP SAYS CHINA HAS TO DO A LOT OF THINGS TO TURN IT AROUND

TRUMP SAYS CHINA’S CURRENCY IS “GOING TO HELL”

Pres. Trump: We have to make a much better deal with China https://t.co/r7kZAOKXfi pic.twitter.com/V8R9Xhpi7N — CBS News (@CBSNews) August 2, 2019

Then, Europe:

TRUMP SAYS EU AUTO TARIFFS ARE NEVER OFF THE TABLE

TRUMP SAYS EU IS VERY TOUGH TO DEAL WITH

Pres. Trump says dealing with the EU is very difficult https://t.co/r7kZAOKXfi pic.twitter.com/Vc9BqqgzTh — CBS News (@CBSNews) August 2, 2019



The FBI labels conspiracy theorists as domestic terrorists while the media targets a heavily censored Alex Jones.

And regarding his decision to withdraw John Ratcliffe:

TRUMP SAYS HE MAY NAME SUE GORDON AS ACTING DNI

TRUMP SAYS REPUBLICANS DIDN’T EXPRESS OPPOSITION TO RATCLIFFE

TRUMP SAYS ‘CHEAPER’ TO OUTSOURCE VETTING TO MEDIA

HAPPENING NOW: Pres. Trump says Rep. Ratcliffe is being treated very unfairly https://t.co/r7kZAOKXfi pic.twitter.com/R6tSWHEtiu — CBS News (@CBSNews) August 2, 2019

Per his tweet about the break-in at Rep. Elijah Cummings’ home:

TRUMP SAYS CUMMINGS INCIDENT COMMENT WASN’T MEANT AS A WISEGUY

Pres. Trump says his tweet about Elijah Cummings was not meant “as a wise guy tweet” https://t.co/r7kZAOKXfi pic.twitter.com/HdCB8Botr1 — CBS News (@CBSNews) August 2, 2019

On the subject of a new nuclear accord with Russia and China…

TRUMP SAYS HE’S DISCUSSED NUCLEAR ACCORD WITH RUSSIA, CHINA

TRUMP SAYS HE’S SPEAKING TO RUSSIA ON A POTENTIAL NUCLEAR PACT

He also reiterated his comments on winning the war in Afghanistan.

Pres. Trump says we could win a war in Afghanistan in two or four days but he’s “not looking to kill millions of people” https://t.co/r7kZAOKXfi pic.twitter.com/MxKvUilXgV — CBS News (@CBSNews) August 2, 2019

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 finished the week below its highs from May 2019 and September 2018, breaking a key support level.

Which further validates our theory…

Trump really bought puts: TRUMP SAYS HE CAN RAISE CHINA TARIFFS `TO A MUCH HIGHER NUMBER' TRUMP SAYS CHINA HAS TO DO A LOT OF THINGS TO TURN IT AROUND — zerohedge (@zerohedge) August 2, 2019

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