President Donald Trump's threat to use military intervention to handle the troubled bond markets is baffling his online critics.
On Friday, a reporter asked Trump about increasing bond yields, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has struggled to contain after a failed debt buyback intervention earlier this week.
"Have you talked to Bessent about another type of intervention?" a reporter asked Trump.
"The ultimate intervention is our military," Trump responded. "And if we have to use that, we will."
The response from Trump prompted mockery as he seemed to conflate military intervention with a bond market intervention.
"Addled Trump threatens to use the military on bond traders," reacted Ron Filipkowski, the editor-in-chief of the political news network MeidasTouch, in a post on X.
"Is the bond market also two weeks away from a nuclear weapon?" asked Acyn Torabi, the senior digital editor for MeidasTouch, referring to reports that Trump was weighing a possible nuclear strike against Iran.
"Operation Epic Interest Rates," suggested political blogger and Kash Patel foe Jim Stewartson.
"Is Trump going to bomb the bond market?" wondered PatriotTakes, which covers right-wing extremism.
"I preferred it when yield curve control didn't involve the military," economist Justin Wolfers lamented. "But perhaps mine is a radical position."
During his comments, which came ahead of a South Carolina rally for Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC), Trump also pinned the initial debt buyback to Bessent as bond yields climbed shortly after the buyback.
"Did you direct Secretary Bessent to intervene in the bond market?" a reporter asked Trump.
"No, not at all," he responded. "He's a very capable man. He wanted to do it. He's very good at it. He's got a good touch for bonds and interest rates. He did it."
The question came shortly before he was asked about considering another intervention, but Trump still pivoted to talking about military force.