Consumer confidence plummets as Americans fear effects of Trump's trade war

Consumer confidence in the United States plunged in the month of August down to its lowest level since late 2016, according to the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index.

As MarketWatch reports, consumer confidence dropped by nearly ten points in the index, plummeting from 98.4 in July down to 89.8 in August.

According to the survey, it looks like President Donald Trump's trade war was largely to blame for the plunge.

"The sharp decline in consumer sentiment stemmed from increasingly negative views of the one-third of respondents that brought up the tariffs on their own," MarketWatch writes. "They worry the dispute will increase inflation, reduce incomes and raise unemployment."

Trump on Friday sent out several panicky tweets about the state of the economy, in which he once again blamed the Federal Reserve for not aggressively cutting interest rates and pumping more money into the economy.

The president also took a shot at companies who have been complaining that his tariffs are harming their bottom lines, and he sent out a tweet calling them "badly run and weak" for not being able to handle the financial stresses of his trade war.