A top aide to President Donald Trump, known in White House circles as “the Oracle” for his successful track record of predictions, foresees that the stock market volatility driven by the administration’s chaotic tariff rollout will simmer down by next month.
James Blair, the White House deputy chief of staff for legislative, political, and public affairs, told Politico’s “Deep Dive” podcast that a few weeks of the stock market closing in correction territory “doesn’t mean a ton in the grand scheme.”
“The question is, what does the trend look like over time?” said Blair, who earned his moniker for his strong opinions and predictions that he said often turn out to be right.
“I think that things will settle out,” he added. “I think as we get into April, particularly, some of the tariff stuff comes into clearer focus for the markets to be able to absorb and price in, then the volatility—and I’m not an economist, but this is just sort of basic sense—will settle down a little bit.”
After suffering a four-week losing streak, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq Composite closed out the previous week in the green. Stocks rallied last Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady and forecast two interest rate cuts for 2025.
Still, markets are bracing for April 2, when Trump is expected to implement so-called reciprocal tariffs to match duties imposed by trading partners.
Last week, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent brushed off concerns after the stock market logged its worst week in more than two years: “I’m not worried about the markets. Over the long term, if we put a good tax policy in place, deregulation and energy security, the markets will do great.”
Blair, like many other White House officials, pinned the blame on government spending even as data showed that the government spent more during Trump’s first month in office than it did over the same period a year ago.
“The president has said very clearly the volatility will settle down,” Blair said, vowing to implement “as soon as possible” changes like deregulation, boosting domestic manufacturing, and introducing tax relief. “But yeah, there’s going to be a little bit of adjustment.”
Blair said the president wants to provide “predictability” to the markets and businesses “so that they can do their business planning in a way that they can count on.”
“I think that we will get to a place very soon where they feel pretty comfortable with how to plan,” he added.
