The "Mar-a-Lago Agreement" operator Miran engaged in a verbal battle with top hedge funds and other institutions, only to be rebutted to the point of "incoherence."

The "Mar-a-Lago Agreement" concept faces real-world challenges, with architect Miran being left "speechless" by Wall Street giants. According to media reports, last Friday, Trump's chief economic advisor Stephen Miran met with representatives from top hedge funds and major investors at the White House in an attempt to calm market concerns, but the results were not ideal. The report noted that the meeting was convened by Citigroup, coinciding with the IMF Spring Meetings. Participants included hedge funds such as Balyasny, Tudor, and Citadel, as well as representatives from asset management companies like PGIM and BlackRock. However, these financial giants were not satisfied with Miran's performance, with two attendees describing his remarks on tariffs and the market as incoherent, and one even stating that Miran was "incompetent." Miran was at a loss for words when questioned; when faced with a knowledgeable audience, official jargon is quickly dismantled. Before joining the Trump administration, Miran authored "A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trade System," promoting the so-called "Mar-a-Lago Agreement" and its advantages, advocating for a global market more closely aligned with U.S. trade and geopolitical interests. The core content of the agreement involves not only tariff strategies and dollar depreciation but also potentially includes debt restructuring, the establishment of sovereign wealth funds, and the reallocation of defense spending. However, from a practical perspective, the so-called reciprocal tariffs announced by Trump on April 2 triggered severe fluctuations in the U.S. stock and bond markets. Although Trump subsequently suspended these tariffs for 90 days, the yield on the U.S. 10-year Treasury bond fell from a peak of 4.59% on April 11 to 4.17%, yet many investors indicated that the decline in long-term bond prices and the depreciation of the dollar suggest that the U.S. role as a market safe haven is under pressure. The "Mar-a-Lago Agreement" Concept Faces Real-World Challenges Miran's core idea in "A User's Guide to Restructuring the Global Trade System" is the belief that the dollar, as the dominant reserve currency, represents a "burden," advocating for a weakening of the dollar and binding U.S. debt holders to arrangements that fund defense spending in exchange for U.S. security guarantees. Earlier this month, although Miran did not explicitly call for a new global currency agreement during his speech, he pointed out that there are "distortions" in the foreign exchange market and that providing reserve assets could lead to "adverse side effects." His solutions included: countries should accept tariffs on U.S. exports without retaliation, or simply "issue checks to the Treasury to help us fund global public goods." However, these ideas have faced strong opposition from bond investors. Reports indicate that Miran has increasingly distanced himself from the views he presented in his 2024 paper during recent meetings with investors. The reason may be that since the so-called reciprocal tariffs announced by Trump on April 2, there have been severe fluctuations in the U.S. stock and bond markets Last Friday's participants stated that Miran was almost no help in alleviating market turmoil, merely reiterating the government's position that tariffs harm trade partners more than American consumers. Miran also claimed that the primary purpose of tariffs is not revenue generation, although additional income may become a byproduct. In contrast, Treasury Secretary Becerra stated in a closed-door meeting last week that the tariff deadlock is unsustainable and that the situation is expected to ease in the near future. At that time, this statement helped boost the U.S. stock market, with all three major U.S. indices rising over 2.5%.