• Politics
  • White House

White House Responds to Historic Dow Plunge: ‘Focus Is on Our Long-Term Economic Fundamentals’

2 minute read

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement Monday in response to a historic Dow Jones industrial average plunge, which resulted in the biggest one-day point drop in the stock index’s history.

“The President’s focus is on our long-term economic fundamentals, which remain exceptionally strong, with strengthening U.S. economic growth, historically low unemployment, and increasing wages for American workers,” Sanders said in the statement.

“The President’s tax cuts and regulatory reforms will further enhance the U.S. economy and continue to increase prosperity for the American people,” she added.

Monday’s stock plunge was the worst in six and a half years, with the Dow sinking by more than 1,100 points, despite President Trump’s repeated insistence that the economy is thriving under his leadership.

“What was driving the market up in January?” Brad McMillan, chief investment officer for Commonwealth Financial Network, said to Bloomberg. “It wasn’t the fundamentals, as good as they were, it was excessive confidence.”

Last week during his State of the Union address, Trump said that “the stock market has smashed one record after another, gaining $8 trillion in value.” He has frequently commented on market gains throughout the first year of his presidency on Twitter as well.

“Business is looking better than ever with business enthusiasm at record levels,” Trump tweeted in August. “Stock Market at an all-time high. That doesn’t just happen!”

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com