CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Tuesday that President Donald Trump is a force to be reckoned with in the stock market — but whether he’s helping or hurting companies depends on where they sit.
“You have to factor in the government as both a positive and a negative, no matter what you do,” Cramer said on “Mad Money,” after outlining the impact of the president’s agenda on five stocks that had notable moves in Tuesday’s session.
First, Cramer pointed to a group that got crushed on Tuesday: the nation’s largest health insurers. Shares of UnitedHealth and Humana plummeted over 20%. CVS Health, which owns the insurer Aetna, tanked 14%. The group took a hit after the administration proposed a nearly flat reimbursement rate for Medicare Advantage plans in 2027, which was well below Wall Street analysts’ expectations of a rate increase between 4% and 6%. This, as a result, could slash the federal payments these firms receive by billions of dollars.
“I’m honestly surprised it happened because both [political] parties have checked off on these price increases for years,” Cramer said. “It’s like by rote.”
On the other hand, Cramer pointed to two names as key winners from Trump’s policies.
Cramer argued that quarterly earnings from General Motors showed how the White House’s more lenient stance on environmental regulation benefits the automaker. With Trump in charge, Cramer said General Motors can sell more gas-powered vehicles without purchasing electric vehicle credits. The company posted better-than-expected profits early Tuesday, with shares closing up 8.75% on the day.
Cramer said that CEO Mary Barra should “take a victory lap” after the results. “And I agree with Barra when she says 2026 will be even better, and we have to credit this business environment and the president’s support for some of that success,” he added.
Nucor is another beneficiary, according to Cramer.
Although the North Carolina-based steel producer’s earnings came in slightly below expectations Monday night, Cramer said Trump has still been a huge tailwind for the stock. Shares of Nucor fell 2.3% in response to earnings Tuesday, but are still up 42% over the past year. Nucor is benefiting from Trump’s expansion of Section 232 tariffs, which have reduced U.S. finished steel imports significantly, allowing Nucor to capture more share.
Cramer said all of this has made one thing very clear. “The United States increasingly feels like a command economy, where you better accept the president’s terms without complaints or suffer the consequences, which could be severe.”
