An economist and treasury secretary under Bill Clinton’s administration, Lawrence Summers, has said the kind of drops experienced by US stock markets on Thursday were “entirely without precedent.”

He said he would have resigned as President in protest to the damage and the backlash this policy has generated if he was President Donald Trump.

Summers stated this in a post on X, following President Donald Trump’s sweeping worldwide tariffs announcement that has sent a shock wave across businesses around the globe.

Trump’s announcement of what he called reciprocal tariffs have received more backlash than commendation as reactions keep pouring in.

“Today was the worst stock market experience in five years. Usually when you have a terrible stock market experience, it’s because a bank fails, a pandemic, a hurricane or because some other country does something,” Summers wrote.

He added, “We don’t have these kinds of stock market responses in response to policies that the President of the United States is proud of. That is something that is entirely without precedent. It is extremely dangerous.”

In an earlier post he wrote:

“If any administration of which I was a part had launched an economic policy so totally ungrounded in serious analysis or so dangerous and damaging, I would have resigned in protest.”

US Tariffs: If I were you, I’ll resign as President – Bill Clinton’s ex-aide tells Trump