Turkey's currency is plummeting, and Trump just doubled tariffs

An economic power play has sent Turkey's currency into a downward spiral.

The Turkish lira plunged more than 16 percent on Friday, while tensions simultaneously escalated between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Trump, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Turkey's fragile economy already had investors worried about future financial health, with the lira down 23 percent against the U.S. dollar in the past week. Erdogan seemingly added fuel to the fire when he made a defiant speech on Friday, saying "Turkey won't surrender to economic hitmen" and blaming an "interest rate plot" that amounted to "a military coup attempt."

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Trump did not take warmly to Erdogan's declaration of "economic war," announcing on Twitter that he would double tariffs on steel and aluminum. "Our relations with Turkey are not good at this time," Trump wrote.

The declining lira, which is at a record low, could frazzle markets all over Europe, CNN Money reports, especially now that experts expect that Turkey will need to take emergency action. "It's not clear that Turkey will be able to step back from the brink this time around," said William Jackson, an economist at Capital Economics.