During a chaotic morning on Wall Street, a false report was posted by a popular news aggregator known as Walter Bloomberg on X, claiming that President Trump was contemplating a 90-day suspension of his controversial tariff proposal. This inaccurate news caused significant market volatility, with indexes like the Dow Jones experiencing rapid fluctuations before settling.
Walter Bloomberg, while not officially affiliated with any news organization or Bloomberg News, has been regarded as a trusted source for business and tech news. The account typically shares headlines from the Bloomberg Terminal, a subscription service providing financial professionals with real-time market data and breaking news. On occasions, these headlines appear on the Terminal before being published online, making Walter Bloomberg a valuable resource for immediate news updates.
On Monday, errors in reporting by CNBC and Reuters, later amplified by Walter Bloomberg on X, seemingly influenced the stock market amid an already turbulent day. The erroneous headline, which has since been deleted, falsely stated: “HASSETT: TRUMP IS CONSIDERING A 90-DAY PAUSE IN TARIFFS FOR ALL COUNTRIES EXCEPT CHINA.”
The White House’s rapid response team quickly refuted the Walter Bloomberg post, quote-tweeting it and denying that Kevin Hassett, Director of the National Economic Council, made such claims. The White House’s account also shared a clip from Fox News, pinpointing the source of the false statement. In the clip, Hassett was asked by a Fox anchor if the administration would consider a 90-day pause, to which he replied non-committally, suggesting others, like billionaire Bill Ackman, ease off on the rhetoric.
When questioned about the source of the report, Walter Bloomberg indicated that it was derived from Reuters. However, Walter Bloomberg did not provide a comment to TechCrunch. In its statement, Reuters explained that their report, based on a CNBC headline, incorrectly stated that Hassett mentioned President Trump was considering a tariff pause. Reuters acknowledged the error and subsequently retracted the report.
The mix-up led to a chain of blame, with Walter Bloomberg pointing to Reuters, and Reuters indicating CNBC as the source. A CNBC spokesperson stated that while reporting on market movements in real-time, unconfirmed information was briefly aired but was corrected promptly.
Walter Bloomberg’s account deviated from its usual tone by expressing disbelief with a simple “wtf,” and shared a screenshot of a CNBC report from the Terminal asserting that the White House was unaware of any plan for a 90-day pause. It appears that Wall Street traders likely accessed this information directly from the Terminal rather than through the Walter Bloomberg account. However, individuals outside the financial sector depend on accounts like Walter Bloomberg to mimic the immediate access provided by the Bloomberg Terminal.
