The U.S. stock market started the week with a major sell off across multiple sectors as President Donald Trump warned of an economic "transition period" ahead.

The S&P 500 was down 2.7%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 2.08% and the Nasdaq Composite index sank 4%.

Tesla skidded 15% in its worst daily performance since 2020. Nvidia stock was down 4.88% and other tech stocks across the board also saw losses.

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President Donald Trump's tariffs and tariff threats have introduced new volatility to the markets, which administration officials have indicated may continue for some time.

In an interview on Fox News Sunday, President Trump did not directly answer questions about whether there would be a recession or what effect his tariffs would have — but he said the market and the economy as a whole should now expect a "period of transition."

“What I have to do is build a strong country,” Trump said. “You can’t really watch the stock market.”

A White House official echoed those remarks on Monday — following the close of trading.

"Want to emphasize that we’re seeing a strong divergence between animal spirits of the stock market and what we’re actually seeing unfold from businesses and business leaders, and the latter is obviously more meaningful than the former on what’s in store for the economy in the medium to long term," the official said.

Economic experts who spoke with The Associated Press forecast that growth in the market would be lower this year due to the volatility of President Trump's tariff policy.

Goldman Sachs analyst David Mericle told the outlet a recession was possible, but the risk could be moderated because "the White House has the option to pull back policy changes" if they appear to have a negative effect.