Key Trump Adviser’s Attempt to Reassure Investors Amid Market Turmoil Draws Criticism As Some Say He Was 'Out of His Depth': 'When You’re With An Audience That Knows A Lot...' - BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Vanguard Total Bond Market ETF (NASDAQ:BND)

The chief economic adviser to President Donald Trump, Stephen Miran, reportedly struggled to reassure major bond and hedge fund investors during a meeting last week.

What Happened: Miran, who also heads the Council of Economic Advisers, met with representatives from top hedge funds and other significant investors at the White House on Friday. The meeting was organized amid a period of heightened market instability caused by Trump’s tariff policies, according to a Financial Times report. The meeting, arranged by Citigroup Inc. C, included representatives from hedge funds Balyasny, Tudor and Kenneth Griffin‘s Citadel, as well as asset managers PGIM and BlackRock Inc. BLK.

Several attendees expressed dissatisfaction with the meeting, describing Miran’s remarks on tariffs and markets as unclear or insufficient. Some even suggested that Miran was not up to the task. Some called him "incoherent" while some said, he was “Out of his depth”.

"When you're with an audience that knows a lot, the talking points are taken apart pretty quickly,” a source told Financial Times.

However, one individual familiar with the meeting expressed optimism about the administration’s approach to deregulation and tax cuts.

Earlier this month in a speech at the Hudson Institute, Miran proposed that countries either accept U.S. tariffs on their exports without retaliating or "write cheques to Treasury that help us finance global public goods" as potential solutions.

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Why It Matters: The Trump administration’s policies have led to significant fluctuations in U.S. equity and debt markets. U.S. government bonds experienced a sharp sell-off following the president’s announcement of steep tariffs on April 2.

Recently, hedge fund manager Spencer Hakimian criticized the ongoing trade and tariff war, describing it as unprecedentedly “stupid”. He highlighted that S&P 500 companies generate nearly $1.17 trillion in annual revenue from China. Meanwhile, some investors have managed to find success amid the market downturn. Billionaire investor David Einhorn‘s hedge fund, Greenlight Capital, reported an 8.2% return in the first quarter of 2025, significantly outperforming the S&P 500’s loss of over 4% during the same period.

However, according to most investors, declining long-term bond prices and a weakening dollar indicate that the U.S.’s status as a safe haven in global markets is facing pressure.

Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund ETF BND climbed 2.24% year-to-date, while iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF TLT rose 3% during the same period.