As the global economy tanked, wiping trillions of dollars off the stock market, Donald Trump gathered two of his closest advisors in the Oval Office to help write the message that would end all the chaos.

After an hour of tinkering on Wednesday afternoon, the president pressed the purple “Truth” button on his phone - firing out a 161-word statement on his social media platform that would trigger a historic correction in the markets and possibly save entire countries from ruin.

It was quite the U-turn from “liberation day” less than a week earlier when Mr Trump had publicly paraded his colour-coded chart of tariffs in the White House rose garden.

The two men next to him gathered around his phone in the quiet Oval Office were Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, and Howard Lutnick, the secretary of commerce.

Markets are far from stable, but since the message was sent it has now emerged just how critical their roles have been helping to steer the Trump administration towards his apparent climb-down.