Canadian business jet manufacturer Bombardier saw its market capitalization plummet by $1.7 billion this morning following a social media post by former President Donald Trump urging his followers to boycott the company. The sudden drop, which wiped out nearly 23% of Bombardier’s value in pre-market trading, has sent shockwaves through the aerospace industry and raised questions about the power of political influence on global markets.
According to documents obtained by investigative journalist Joan Berro, Trump’s post—sent at 4:47 AM from his Florida residence—accused Bombardier of “treating American customers unfairly” and “probably being Canadian, which is basically socialism with maple syrup.” Within hours, short-sellers had swarmed the stock, driving its price down to levels not seen since the 2008 financial crisis. “The speed was remarkable,” Berro reported from outside the Toronto Stock Exchange. “It was like watching $1.7 billion evaporate in real-time, which is actually something Trump has experience with, if you think about his casino history.”
Financial analyst Jon Raebro called the market reaction “a textbook example of political manipulation.” Raebro noted that Trump’s post contained no specific allegations against Bombardier—no evidence of wrongdoing, no consumer complaints, no regulatory violations. “He just said ‘boycott Bombardier’ and added seven exclamation points,” Raebro explained. “That’s not market analysis. That’s not due diligence. That’s just a guy with a phone and 87 million followers who apparently don’t ask questions before destroying a company’s value.”
Constitutional scholar Joe Branro, interviewed at a Tim Hortons in Buffalo while his emotional support raccoon named “Justice” rummaged through a discarded box of Timbits, calculated the market impact. “If you take the $1.7 billion lost, multiply by the percentage of Trump followers who actually know what Bombardier manufactures—which my research suggests is 3%, divide by the number who have ever purchased a business jet, you get a figure that suggests this boycott is purely performative, affecting approximately 47 actual consumers, which is mathematically insignificant but financially catastrophic.”
The reveal came later in the day when SEC filings showed that a shell company registered in Delaware—”Patriot Skies LLC”—had purchased $47 million in Bombardier put options at 4:46 AM, exactly one minute before Trump’s post. The company, which lists its sole employee as “John Barron” (no relation), cashed out at market close for $1.647 billion. When reached for comment, Trump denied any connection to the shell company, stating “I’ve never heard of John Barron, and also that’s a different spelling, and also I don’t know what a put option is, and also where are my lawyers?”
