The prevalent analysis is that Donald Trump, the President of the United States, suddenly changed his stance on the 9th (local time) by postponing the tariff bomb he had been throwing at the world for 90 days due to a sharp rise in Government Bonds interest rates.
In particular, The New York Times (NYT) raised criticism that President Trump’s assets are concentrated in bonds, and questioned whether he took action only when his property value was threatened, despite the global economy wobbling without him batting an eye.
NYT reported on the 18th that an analysis of President Trump's assets as of last year showed that the amount invested in bonds reached between $125 million (about 178 billion won) and $443 million (about 631 billion won).
Considering that financial assets amount to $206 million (about 293 billion won) to $620 million (about 883 billion won), even based on the lowest amount, the bond ratio is about 60%. In contrast, the stock investment ratio was less than 10%.
NYT pointed out that even using conservative estimates comparing the minimum value of bonds and the maximum value of stocks, he holds twice as many bonds as stocks, excluding Trump Media.
President Trump is estimated to hold corporate bonds between $18 million (about 25.6 billion won) and $75 million (about 106.8 billion won) from companies like Microsoft and Apple, and U.S. Government Bonds between $9 million (about 12.8 billion won) and $42 million (about 59.8 billion won). Local government bonds accounted for about 80% of the total bond holdings.
NYT questioned whether President Trump’s personal assets influenced the tariff postponement decision, noting that he seemed to move only when the bond market fell into panic, despite pressure from various sectors and the stock market crash.
After announcing the tariff postponement, President Trump said, "the bond market is very tricky" and "I am watching (the bond market)," indicating that the interest rates on Government Bonds were a primary cause.