Major market indices are suffering even worse losses amid the White House’s lack of clarity about when — or if — President Trump’s tariffs will be lifted. During a meeting at the White House on Thursday, the president had little to say about negotiations with other nations. 

Mr. Trump announced Wednesday that he would lower tariffs to 10 percent for the next 90 days for all countries that did not retaliate against his original import taxes levied last week. He also said tariffs on China would increase to 125 percent, though a White House clarification on Thursday spooked markets even further after it was reported that the tax on imports from China would actually be 145 percent. 

CNBC reported just before 11 AM on Thursday that the China tariffs were higher than originally expected. Over the course of the next 90 minutes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by nearly 1,000 points. Despite a small mid-afternoon rebound, the Dow closed following a 2.5 percent loss, with the S&P 500 tumbling by 3.4 percent and the Nasdaq closing with a 4.3 percent loss. 

Many conservatives had expressed optimism on Wednesday afternoon after Mr. Trump announced his tariff pause. Lawmakers described it as the “Art of Deal” despite no deals being made with foreign nations. The White House’s top crypto advisor, David Sacks, has been mocked on line for his silence amid the market volatility only to pop up and gloat Wednesday ahead of another market downturn. 

“How you like them apples now?” Mr. Sacks asked on Wednesday afternoon. 

The president, for his part, praised the market rebound on Wednesday before resigning himself to market realities on Thursday. While meeting with his Cabinet at the White House, Mr. Trump offered no insight into what his administration is doing to help win better deals with other countries in order to bring this trade war to a close. 

“In the end it’s gonna be a beautiful thing,” the president declared, while conceding that there will be a “cost” and some “problems.”

Secretary Bessent exuded more confidence than his boss, saying that Thursday’s losses were offset by gains made Wednesday, even though the market’s increases on Wednesday were preceded by four straight days of losses. But like the president, Mr. Bessent offered little clarity about what the structures or goals of these trade negotiations will be. 

“Up two, down one is not a bad ratio,” Mr. Bessent said. “As we have talked about — as we go through the queue and settle with these countries that are going to bring us their best offers, we will end up in a place of great certainty over the next 90 days on tariffs.”

China has taken a hard line with the president since he announced his tariffs just eight days ago. On Thursday, after raising their 84 percent import taxes on American goods, the Chinese government said they would “moderately reduce” the number of American films that would be shown in their country, which could have disastrous impacts for film studios’ bottom line. 

“I think I’ve heard of worse things,” Mr. Trump said with a laugh.

The president’s chief trade advisor, Peter Navarro, said after the markets closed that he was not concerned at all about Thursday’s losses. He says it was all “normal.”

“You had the highest rise in stock market history yesterday,” Mr. Navarro claimed, referring to Wednesday’s gains, which are far from the largest one-day increases in history. “It’s just a normal retrenchment after a big day.”