U.S. President Donald Trump bragged about his stock market gains in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday and promised that the government would contribute to workers’ retirement savings, while stating to reduce minimal jitters on Wall Street pertaining to the future of his tariffs and global trade policy.
Karen Jorritsma, head of Australian equities at RBC Capital Markets in Sydney, said, “People were probably looking for something more definitive on the tariffs, and I’m not sure we’ve had that.”
In his address, Trump mentioned 53 successive highs in the stock market since he was re-elected to his second term in November 2024.
Trump said, indicating a broad-based retirement savings account, “Because the stock market has done so well, setting all those records, your 401ks are way up.”
Trump declared plans next year to match up 401k employee contributions of up to $1,000 each for “forgotten American workers” who have no access to retirement plans that offer employer contributions, without providing information.
Jake Dollarhide, CEO of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa, Oklahoma, stated that such government-funded retirement savings contributions could contribute to future gains in the stock market.
Trump’s address is timely to the investors, who have been caught in the crossfire of market volatility over the last few months and need a stable market.
Although concerns about expensive valuations of AI-related firms have been behind most of the swings in Wall Street, persistent confusion over U.S. trade policy has kept investors on edge.
The Supreme Court ordered the emergency-powers tariffs on Trump struck down, and Trump signed an order on Saturday replacing broad duties under an emergency law that the Court had struck down with 10 percent tariffs for 150 days, and then on Saturday announced that he would raise the rate to 15 percent.
Trump described in his speech that “almost all” countries and corporations would like to remain associated with tariff and investment agreements previously made with the United States.
Although the S&P 500 (SPX) has surged by 13 percent since Trump was inaugurated in January 2025 to mark the 400 days, in reality, the benchmark has hardly risen in 2026, as Wall Street underperforms international stock markets and the dollar is trading at or near 2022 lows.
State of the Union speeches had minimal influence on financial markets, as they are generally used by incumbent presidents to boast about their accomplishments and announce far-reaching policy plans.
