Palantir Co-Founder Joe Lonsdale Asks If China Is Dumping Treasuries As Yields Spike: Tesla Director Kimbal Musk Says Beijing Playing 'Fed-Chicken' With Trump Ahead Of $6.5 Trillion Debt Refinancing Deadline

Palantir Technologies Inc. PLTR co-founder Joe Lonsdale flagged unusual market activity on Tuesday, questioning whether China is “dumping treasuries like mad” amid escalating trade tensions with the U.S.

What Happened: Tesla Inc. TSLA director Kimbal Musk responded that China’s apparent selling strategy may be designed to pressure the Federal Reserve ahead of a critical debt refinancing deadline.

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President Donald Trump is “playing chicken with the Fed. China knows this and is selling treasuries to try to make sure Trump loses the Fed-Chicken game,” Musk wrote on X, pointing to $6.5 trillion in U.S. debt needing refinancing by June.

The exchange comes as U.S. markets experience what financial strategist Lawrence McDonald called “historically swift destruction of equity capital,” with $9 trillion wiped out in six weeks following Trump’s tariff announcements.

The only way to apply sense to Trump's trade war is to create massive uncertainty that will force the Fed to lower rates for when we need to refinance $6.5T of treasuries by June.

China knows this and by selling treasuries they create counter pressure for the Fed to keep rates…

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