The president has tried to acknowledge the stock market’s fall without backing off from the policies that triggered it. He’s playing with fire.

Key Takeaways The S&P 500 is off to its worst start for a presidential term since 2009, when Barack Obama entered the White House in the midst of the global financial crisis.Traditionally defensive sectors have outperformed since Trump's inauguration amid growing concern that tariffs could usher in a period of stagflation.

The S&P 500 fell 1.4% on Thursday, marking its lowest point of the year and sliding into a market correction, as it is now down 10.1% from the all-time high it reached less than a month ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also hit a year-to-date low, closing down 537 points.

The administration’s whipsawing moves are leaving investors guessing. The risk is that this uncertainty comes at a real cost to the economy.

Strong economic gains in the long term are worth the short-term stock market volatility Americans experienced this week, allies of President Donald Trump tried to argue Thursday as they fanned out across cable news and a number of media outlets to spread their perspective.