The billionaires who backed Donald Trump‘s election campaign are turning on the president ahead of his ‘arrogantly extreme’ and ‘ignorant’ tariffs going into effect tomorrow.
Trump’s allies have issued stark warnings of an ‘economic nuclear war’ that will crash markets and drive the global economy into a downturn if the tariffs are not halted.
Ken Fisher, who has supported Trump since his first campaign in 2016, said that he does not typically comment publicly on presidential actions, ‘but on tariffs Trump is beyond the pale by a long shot’.
The Fisher Investments founder branded Trump’s tariffs proposal as ‘stupid, wrong, arrogantly extreme, ignorant trade-wise and addressing a non-problem with misguided tools’ in a post on X.
He added: ‘Yet, as near as I can tell it will fade and fail and the fear is bigger than the problem, which from here is bullish.’
The tariffs are likely to ‘increase inflation’ and ‘slow down growth’, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, who described himself as ‘very cautious’ in light of the rising recession risk, echoed.
Trump’s First Buddy Elon Musk – the world’s richest man – made direct yet unsuccessful appeals to Trump to reverse tariffs over the past weekend, The Washington Post reported, citing two people familiar with the matter.
This exchange marks the highest profile disagreement between the president and Tesla CEO, who has publicly said that he had hoped for a ‘zero-tariff situation’ between Europe and the US.
The harsh skepticism of Trump’s economic policies comes as the ‘Magnificent Seven’ stocks sank yesterday, extending a market rout that has wiped off around $2trillion from their combined value and sent investors into a panic.
The billionaires who backed Donald Trump’s election campaign are turning on the president ahead of his ‘arrogantly extreme’ and ‘ignorant’ Liberation Day tariffs going into effect tomorrow. Trump is pictured last week as he announced his ‘reciprocal tariffs’
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon (pictured in October last year) warned the tariffs are likely to ‘increase inflation’ and ‘slow down growth’
First Buddy Elon Musk – the world’s richest man – said he had hoped for a ‘zero-tariff situation’ between Europe and the US. Musk is pictured with Trump in the Office Office in February
US and global equities have been in free fall since Trump announced sweeping tariffs last week in a move the president touted as ‘Liberation Day’ from international trade rules he argues have harmed the country.
Bill Ackman, who supported Trump in his presidential bid, said the tariffs could lead to an ‘economic nuclear winter,’ while hedge fund founder Boaz Weinstein told Bloomberg an economic ‘avalanche’ has just begun.
Ackman urged the president to pause the tariffs while renegotiating trade deals. He said on X the tariffs would stymie business investment and consumer spending and ‘severely damage’ the United States’ reputation for years, he wrote.
He said Trump’s current trajectory could devastate businesses around the world and urged the president to ‘call a 90-day timeout, negotiate and resolve unfair asymmetric tariff deals and induce trillions of dollars of new investment in our country‘.
‘The country is 100 percent behind the president on fixing a global system of tariffs that has disadvantaged the country. But business is a confidence game and confidence depends on trust,’ Ackman wrote.
‘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, as a place to do business and as a market to invest capital.’
Weinstein warned that credit spreads could easily widen as economic uncertainty potentially leads to a severe recession, adding: ‘I’m very concerned about a crash.’
Stanley Druckenmiller, founder of the Duquesne Family Office investment firm, said he did ‘not support tariffs exceeding 10 per cent’.
Dimon, an influential figure in markets as the longest serving CEO of a major Wall Street firm, described Trump’s tariffs as one of several factors that could boost inflation, along with continued high fiscal deficits, ‘the remilitarization of the world’ and major investments supporting infrastructure and the green economy.
‘While inflation has come down, most of what I see in the future is inflationary,’ said Dimon, who backs the need for reducing the US deficit.
‘These large deficits are not sustainable – I do not know whether it will cause a real problem in six months or six years – the sooner we deal with it, the better,’ he said.
Bill Ackman, (pictured in November 2023) who supported Trump in his presidential bid, said the tariffs could lead to an ‘economic nuclear winter’ and urged the president to ‘call a 90-day timeout, negotiate and resolve unfair asymmetric tariff deals and induce trillions of dollars of new investment in our country’
Ken Fisher, (pictured in 2010) who has supported Trump since his first campaign in 2016, said that he does not typically comment publicly presidential actions, ‘but on tariffs Trump is beyond the pale by a long shot’. The Fisher Investments founder branded Trump’s tariffs proposal was ‘stupid, wrong, arrogantly extreme, ignorant trade-wise and addressing a non-problem with misguided tools’
Dimon claimed the US economy had been steady ‘for years’ but was ‘already weakening’ even before Trump’s watershed tariff announcement last Wednesday.
‘There are many uncertainties surrounding the new tariff policy: the potential retaliatory actions, including on services, by other countries, the effect on confidence, the impact on investments and capital flows, the effect on corporate profits and the possible effect on the US dollar,’ Dimon wrote.
‘In the short run, I see this as one large additional straw on the camel’s back,’ said Dimon, adding ‘my most serious concern is how this will affect America’s long-term economic alliances.’
He and other bank chiefs met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington on Thursday, a day after the tariffs were announced, to discuss the levies and ask questions, a source familiar with the meeting said.
The session was hosted by the Financial Services Forum, an industry lobby group, an administration official and the lobby group confirmed.
Dimon, 69, is one of the most prominent voices in corporate America and has regularly been consulted by administrations during times of crisis.
His name was floated for senior economic roles in government during the 2024 presidential campaign, including Treasury secretary, but he stayed put at the bank.
He said that tomorrow, when the tariffs go into effect, the , warning that markets will crash and ‘business investment will grind to a halt’.
Separately, Goldman Sachs said Sunday that if most of Trump’s April 9 tariffs take effect, these charges – alongside likely sectoral duties – could tip their forecast to a recession.
Stanley Druckenmiller, (pictured in October 2024) founder of the Duquesne Family Office investment firm, said he did ‘not support tariffs exceeding 10 per cent’
Hedge fund founder Boaz Weinstein (pictured in June last year) told Bloomberg an economic ‘avalanche’ has just begun and warned that credit spreads could easily widen as economic uncertainty potentially leads to a severe recession
The Magnificent Seven stocks sank yesterday after Trump doubled down on tariffs on Sunday, telling investors to endure the consequences and ruling out trade talks with China for now.
Tesla shares slumped 7 per cent to $223, leading losses among the ‘Mag 7’ – a group of high-performing tech stocks that powered Wall Street’s rally for years but whose fortunes have taken a turn for the worse in the last few months.
The companies have collectively shed more than $6trillion in market value since their peak in late 2024.
Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft were trading around one-year lows, with the iPhone maker falling 4.8 per cent, while other Mag 7 members fell between 1.5 per cent and 4.8 per cent.
The group has accounted for a large chunk of the more than $5trillion the S&P 500 index has lost in value over the past two trading sessions.
The latest slide followed cuts in price target for Apple and Tesla shares from one of Wall Street’s most bullish tech analysts, Dan Ives, who warned of a ‘tariff economic armageddon’.
The Wedbush analyst said as a US tech company Apple has the biggest exposure to American tariffs on Chinese goods as most iPhones are assembled in China.
He warned the trade war would also deepen Tesla’s challenges as the electric automaker grapples with a growing brand crisis sparked by CEO Elon Musk’s support of Trump and far-right politics in Europe.
The warning underscores growing fears that tariffs could squeeze margins and disrupt supply chains at a time when several technology companies are facing scrutiny over their big AI spending.
Ives cut his target for Tesla shares to $315 from $550, which was one of the highest on Wall Street. His new target is still nearly $100 above the stock’s latest trading price.
Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft were trading around one-year lows yesterday, with the iPhone maker falling 4.8 per cent
Tesla shares slumped 7 per cent to $223, leading losses among the ‘Mag 7’ yesterday. Other members of the group fell between 1.5 per cent and 4.8 per cent yesterday
The Mag 7 has accounted for a large chunk of the more than $5trillion the S&P 500 index has lost in value over the past two trading sessions
On Apple, Ives slashed his target by $75 to $250, calling the tariffs ‘a complete disaster’ for the tech giant, which may have to raise US iPhone prices to protect its lofty margins.
Apple had secured exemptions to US tariffs on China during Trump’s first term, but analysts are unsure if it can secure waivers this time despite announcing $500billion inUS investments over the next four years.
The company has for years kept the starting price of its iPhone Pro model at $1,000. ‘The concept of making iPhones in the US is a non-starter in our view at $1,000,’ Ives said in a note. ‘Price points would move up so dramatically it’s hard to comprehend.’
On Tesla, which could be headed for another year of sales declines after a dismal first-quarter deliveries report, Ives said the trade tensions could push buyers in China to domestic rivals.
‘The backlash from Trump tariff policies in China and Musk’s association will be hard to understate and this will further drive Chinese consumers to buy domestic such as BYD,’ he said in a note published separately.