$5.5 Trillion Lost in U.S. Stock Market Ahead of Trump Tariffs… and the Pandemic Is Coming |  Turkey Open to Deal Between Damascus and Tel Aviv… Hints to Washington About ISIS Resurgence

 April 05, 2025

The political editor wrote

Amid the shouting and theatrics of President Donald Trump, parading as a strongman and a genius unlike any in American history, as though merely being president could have prevented the Ukraine war or the Al-Aqsa flood, the wailing of the financial markets has grown louder. Panic and despair have begun to grip corporations, as $5.5 trillion vanished in just two days following Trump’s announcement of sweeping global tariffs under the banner of “Making America Great Again.” Wall Street stocks plunged by 5.5%, and the losses are expected to mount by the day, painting an increasingly bleak picture that some experts warn could turn into a full-blown collapse of major corporations, banks, and the entire stock market.
What is unfolding, they say, is only the beginning, a set of early symptoms of a pandemic that could wreak more devastation than COVID-19. In just ten days, the world may find itself holding its breath, watching stock indices spiral and scrambling to remember the names of top companies crumbling under the weight of their losses. Soon after, we may witness long lines of newly unemployed workers and desperate depositors queued outside banks demanding their money. The Federal Reserve’s 2008 strategy, printing dollars to bail out collapsing banks, will be far harder to repeat this time, as the dollar’s global dominance has declined from 80% to just 50%, a drop driven by aggressive and excessive use of sanctions that pushed global markets to flee from dependence on the U.S. currency.
In the region, the war in Yemen continues. Last night, it escalated further as a drone was sent to Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, the Israeli military presses on with its operations in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza. While Netanyahu’s government issued stern warnings to Ankara against any provocative moves toward Tel Aviv, after Israel marked a red line in fire against Turkish expansion from Hama to Homs and Palmyra, and warned against rearming the Syrian army, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan responded by saying Turkey does not seek confrontation with Israel and has no objection to a peace agreement between the Damascus government and Tel Aviv. He added that Turkey fears Israel’s actions could jeopardise efforts to combat ISIS, a message clearly aimed at Washington. Ankara seems to be hinting that unless the U.S. steps in to mediate between Israel, Turkey, and Syria, it may withdraw its role in containing or fighting ISIS, especially with the Turkish presence now directly threatened near Palmyra and Homs.
In Gaza, as Israeli airstrikes targeting civilians continue, the announcement of a new ground offensive coincided with a statement from Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades. He revealed that half of the living Israeli prisoners are located in the areas targeted by the ground invasion, putting their lives in immediate danger. He held the Israeli military fully responsible for their potential deaths and called on the occupation leadership to enter immediate negotiations to reach an agreement that would ensure the evacuation or release of the prisoners.