[oldalum]

But if that's not enough, between Feb 21 and Feb 28, the Dow Jones lost 3,700 points or 13%.  The market figured out that it was a big deal.  Why didn't the President?

This is actually the most telling point, because he pays more attention to the Dow than any other national statistic. You can be absolutely sure he was laser-focused on this drop, and he had two choices. He could try to address and fix what the smart money was worried about, or he could try to paper it over and deny it. The latter, which he chose, makes no sense because he can't prop up the Dow indefinitely with words (I don't think it even worked in the short term). But he didn't have the foresight or competence to do the former.

[oldalum]

But if that's not enough, between Feb 21 and Feb 28, the Dow Jones lost 3,700 points or 13%.  The market figured out that it was a big deal.  Why didn't the President?

This is actually the most telling point, because he pays more attention to the Dow than any other national statistic. You can be absolutely sure he was laser-focused on this drop, and he had two choices. He could try to address and fix what the smart money was worried about, or he could try to paper it over and deny it. The latter, which he chose, makes no sense because he can't prop up the Dow indefinitely with words (I don't think it even worked in the short term). But he didn't have the foresight or competence to do the former.