Donald Trump’s tweets move the stock market. He tweeted this morning: “Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!” This caused a sharp sell-off in Boeing stock, even though the company later claimed that it was under a $170 million contract to “help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the president of the United States.”
The tweet naturally raised the question of whether Trump himself could personally benefit from stock market shifts caused by his pronouncements. His spokespeople re-assured the press this was not a problem because Trump sold off all his stocks in June. But as Amy Sullivan of Yahoo News noted, the press coverage was too credulous, simply taking what the Trump team said at face value without getting any documents to confirm it. For example, a Washington Post tweet read: “The move will help combat conflict-of-interest worries about his $40 million portfolio.”
Given Trump’s history of deception, the challenge going forward will be to come up with headlines and push notifications that make clear which statements are mere claims and which have actually been verified.