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President Trump has posted a new announcement on Truth Social, the social media platform. He wrote:
“Just think? It has just been announced that the United States of America made more Steel last year, 2025, than the Great Country of Japan, a major Steelmaker. Thank you President Trump!”
How Will Trump’s Statement Affect the Stock Market?
This latest post has the potential to affect the stock market. That’s because Trump’s claim of a surge in U.S. steel production could lift sentiment and short-term demand expectations for domestic steelmakers like Cleveland-Cliffs (CLF) and Nucor (NUE), and by extension benefit broader U.S. industrial and metal-focused funds such as XLI, VIS, PICK, and SLX. At the same time, the statement may pressure Japan-related equities, including EWJ, if investors infer a relative competitiveness loss for Japanese industry, while potentially prompting some rotation away from perceived defensive assets like GDX if risk appetite for cyclical sectors rises. However, the market impact will depend on how credible investors find the claim and whether data and policy follow-through support a sustained shift in steel and industrial activity rather than a one-off political headline move.
Here are some of the stocks that might be affected:
Cleveland-Cliffs ((CLF)),
Nucor ((NUE)),
Vanguard Industrials ETF ((VIS)),
Industrial Select Sector SPDR Fund ((XLI)),
VanEck Gold Miners ETF ((GDX)),
SPDR S&P Metals & Mining ETF ((XME)),
iShares MSCI Japan ETF ((EWJ)),
iShares U.S. Industrials ETF ((IYJ)),
VanEck Steel ETF ((SLX)).