Donald and Melania Trump pose with phones, December 24, 2018

Donald Trump spends Christmas Eve on Twitter, bemoaning his Presidential fate, “I am all alone (poor me).”

Trump poured out 17 tweets during the day, with thought bubbles and agitations covering his Wall with Mexico, his withdrawal of US forces from Syria, his relationship with Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker — reportedly brought in to limit the Trump-Russia investigation, and his denuncation of the Federal Reserve, which has shaken US financial markets.

He swung from self-promotion (“The President has been remarkable”) to all-caps proclamation (“AMERICA IS RESPECTED AGAIN!”) to his complaint of loneliness as he faced Democrats blocking the Wall and prompting his shutdown of the Federal Government on Friday:

Reaction? Stocks Plunge

But far from providing reassurance, to himself or others, Trump only exacerbated a stock market plunge which has highlighted tension and nerves amid the Government shutdown and the resignations of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and US envoy Brett McGurk — both of whom Trump insulted again on Monday — over Trump’s sudden order to withdraw all 2,000 US personnel from Syria.

The financial sector has been unsettled by Trump’s trade war with China and by reports that he wants to fire the head of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, because of the Fed’s gradual raising of interest rates.

The White House spent the weekend supposedly trying to calm concerns, although a phone call from Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin — from vacation in Mexico — to the CEOs of six leading US banks only raised eyebrows.

Treasury Secretary Mnuchin Rattles Markets with Crisis Call — A Trump Tactic for Uncertainty?

Then Trump undid any positive effect with a Monday tweet.

The S&P 500 fell 2.7% in a half-day trading session, adding to the worst December for markets since the start of the Great Depression in 1929.

Since Trump called himself “Tariff Man” in an August tweet, hailing his campaigns against China and allies such as the European Union, markets have fallen almost 18%. They are now in their sharpest downturn since the financial crisis of 2008 and at their lowest level since April 2017.

From Kim Jong-un to Santa

Perhaps aware of the impression of Twitter obsession, Trump later tried to portray himself at work.

And he closed Christmas Eve with the revelation that he was not actually alone, at least for the purpose of a PR photo with wife Melania.