American billionaire investor and founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, Bill Ackman, has voiced strong concerns about the tariff policy implemented by U.S. President Donald Trump, last week Wednesday.
The billionaire investor warned that such a tariffs policy could plunge America and the global economy into what he calls a “self-inflicted economic nuclear winter”.
He wrote on X,
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“By placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner.
“To state the obvious, it does not help our country’s and our president’s negotiating position to be trying to strike deals while our market is collapsing. Whoever is recommending that idea to the President should be fired now.”
He also added that with these controversial tariffs implemented, Trump is losing the confidence of business leaders across the globe.
“Business is a confidence game. The president is losing the confidence of business leaders around the globe. The consequences for our country and the millions of our citizens who have supported the president in particular low-income consumers who are already under a huge amount of economic stress are going to be severely negative. This is not what we voted for,” he added.
Ackman’s warning resonates with broader economic critiques, echoing sentiments like those from Richard Branson who talked about Trump recognizing mistakes and correcting course swiftly. The Virgin Group co-founder doesn’t view Trump as infallible, emphasizing that advisors bear responsibility for misguiding the president with faulty data.
Also, while President Trump has acknowledged his aggressive tariff plan may result in “little pain” in the short term, billionaire “Shark Tank” star and American billionaire businessman, Mark Cuban, sees a greater risk of long-term economic harm.
In a series of posts made on Bluesky, Cuban expanded on his previous critiques of Trump’s trade policies. He suggested that the extensive tariffs announced by the Trump administration on Wednesday, combined with cuts to the federal workforce spearheaded by the White House DOGE office, could result in a worse financial crisis than the Great Recession of 2008.
He wrote,
“If the new tariffs stay in place for multiple years and are enforced and inflationary, and DOGE continues to cut and fire, we will be in a far worse situation than 2008”.
Notably, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday that tariffs announced by President Donald Trump last week will likely boost prices on both domestic and imported goods, weighing down a U.S. economy that had already been slowing. “Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,” he said.
Trump’s controversial tariff policy, rolled out last week Wednesday, imposes sweeping levies on imports, including a baseline 10% tariff on goods from over 180 countries and significantly higher rates of up to 54% on imports from China. This approach builds on Trump’s long-standing belief that tariffs can address trade imbalances, protect American industries, and bring jobs back to the U.S.
The policy, dubbed by some as part of a “Liberation Day” economic agenda, aims to restore manufacturing and reduce reliance on foreign goods. Trump has however defended the tariffs as a necessary “medicine” to fix economic disadvantages, claiming they’ve already generated billions in revenue and lowered inflation, oil prices, and interest rates.