 "(File) US President Donald Trump. AP")
It’s difficult to imagine the gut-wrenching horror of an aircraft landing—only for it to flip onto its roof, leaving passengers dangling from their seatbelts like marionettes in a twisted performance of survival. This happened in Toronto, Canada.
A Delta Airlines plane flipped upon arrival at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on Monday. Paramedics have reported that at least 18 people were injured in the incident, with one passenger critically hurt.
Those in-flight safety briefings—whether played on screen or delivered with robotic precision by the cabin crew—are usually met with glazed-over stares, their significance only sinking in when the unthinkable happens.
But in moments like these, nothing else matters except making it through—an apt metaphor for enduring the chaos of Trump’s second presidency. Since his return to the White House, two things have been plummeting in spectacular fashion—markets and planes.
One Democratic leader, Congressman Eric Swalwell, has even blamed Trump for multiple plane crashes in the US in the first month of his second term. Swalwell, the California Democrat, wrote on X, “No president has had more planes crash in their first month in office than Donald Trump.”
Swalwell told Fox News Digital, “Trump is President. President Trump is in charge of air safety. All crashes are Trump’s fault.”
Impact Shorts
More ShortsOn his part, Trump has blamed his two Democrat predecessors Joe Biden and Barack Obama for such mishaps and linked these incidents to DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) hiring programmes. He also blamed “obsolete” air traffic control for the recent air crashes in the US.
Some Trump critics have criticised him for air crashes linking these incidents to his cost-cutting programmes. Trump’s attack on DEI hirings and push to reduce cost has caused sudden loss of workforce but there is no report to say conclusively that the new administration’s decisions have caused planes to crash in the US.
Aviation catastrophes
It’s important not to misinterpret any superstitious conclusions regarding President Trump’s second term in office. While some may look for signs, the facts remain clear. As reported by the Associated Press, 2025 has seen a troubling series of aviation tragedies under Trump’s presidency, with 85 lives lost in four significant accidents. However, there’s no evidence to suggest that the president’s tenure has played any role in these events—they are, quite simply, coincidental. Any connections drawn by astrologers or numerologists are speculative at best.
The first of these incidents occurred on January 29 near Washington, DC, when an American Airlines regional jet carrying 64 people collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, killing all 67 individuals on both aircraft.
Just two days later, on January 31, a small medical jet crashed into a Philadelphia neighbourhood, killing all six passengers—including a child patient—and one person on the ground.
On February 6, a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, en route from Unalakleet to Nome in Alaska, lost altitude and disappeared from radar, with wreckage later confirming the deaths of all 10 aboard.
Another tragic collision occurred on February 10 at Scottsdale Airport in Arizona, when two private jets collided, resulting in one death and four injuries. In addition to these major crashes, other aviation-related incidents included a United Airlines emergency evacuation on February 2 following an engine malfunction and a February 5 collision between a Japan Airlines plane and a parked Delta aircraft at Seattle-Tacoma Airport.
Watching planes fall from the sky is never a sight anyone should endure, regardless of how viral a random clip of such a tragic moment becomes. Each time people witness this horrifying spectacle of death and suffering, they feel a sense of relief that they weren’t there, while others seem to revel in the shocking images of fire and destruction. The best hope, of course, is that no such accidents occur again.
Market mayhem
While there is no probe report to link President Trump to these aviation disasters, one global collapse that undeniably bears his influence is the relentless downturn in financial markets. His persistent rhetoric on trade and tariffs has created turmoil, sending shockwaves through global economies and exacerbating market instability.
Since President Trump assumed office for his second term on January 20, 2025, global markets have been in a steep decline. His continuous discussions on trade policies, tariffs, and international relations have stirred uncertainty, leading to volatility across financial markets worldwide.
Investors are reacting to the unpredictability in global trade and the potential economic fallout from his policies, resulting in a sharp downturn. The effects of this turbulence are being felt across various sectors, with stock markets experiencing significant losses and economic confidence eroding.
According to Newsweek, on February 11, 2025, US stock indices experienced declines following President Trump’s announcement of new tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. The S&P 500 dropped 0.31 per cent shortly after market opening, a trend mirrored by declines in Asian markets.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average decreased by 0.26 per cent, and the Nasdaq, which is tech-heavy, fell 0.48 per cent. These movements highlight how sensitive the stock market has become to trade policies with investors closely monitoring the potential long-term economic impacts of such decisions.
The tariffs, reinstating a 25 per cent levy on steel imports and increasing aluminium tariffs from 10 per cent to 25 per cent, revived concerns over escalating trade tensions.
On January 22, 2025, both Chinese and Hong Kong markets faced sharp declines following President Trump’s remarks suggesting new tariffs on Chinese imports. According to Reuters, the CSI 300 Index and the Shanghai Composite Index each fell 0.9 per cent, marking the most significant drop in nearly two weeks. The Hang Seng Index, based in Hong Kong, saw a larger decrease of 1.6 per cent, pulling back from a five-week peak.
In India, the Sensex and Nifty benchmarks saw a significant crash of over 1.3 per cent on February 11, 2025, continuing their downward trajectory for the fifth consecutive session. A Moneycontrol report said that this marked the sharpest single-day drop in three weeks, fuelled by escalating US trade tensions, Trump’s tariff actions, persistent foreign fund outflows and weaker-than-expected corporate earnings. Midcap and smallcap indices experienced even steeper losses, dropping as much as 3.5 per cent.
This downturn in global markets is largely attributed to the renewed fears of a trade war triggered by Trump’s expansion of tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, further complicating the global economic outlook.
Is Trump at fault?
Not everyone agrees that President Trump is responsible for the current turbulence in global markets and stock indices.
According to Brett Schafer’s perspective in The Motley Fool, statistically, there is about a 10 per cent probability each year that the stock market will experience a 20 per cent decline, regardless of external factors. However, current market conditions—such as the S&P 500’s price-to-earnings ratio of 30, close to an all-time high—increase the likelihood of a downturn in 2025.
Schafer emphasises that a US president has little to no control over initial stock valuations when taking office. While certain presidents may have introduced policies that negatively impacted the market, such instances are rare. Typically, stock market performance is influenced by broader economic factors, not just presidential decisions.
Whether the market crashes, soars or remains stagnant in 2025, it is crucial to consider economic fundamentals rather than attributing movements solely to the presidency, argues Schafer.
For now, both aircraft and financial markets have been on a downward spiral since January 20, 2025. Whether this is mere coincidence, an unfortunate confluence of events, or a reflection of deeper instability remains open to interpretation.