Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman who endorsed Donald Trump during his 2024 presidential campaign shared his thoughts about the President’s decision to levy sweeping tariffs on dozens of foreign nations and how the move has tanked the stock market.
The long post written by Ackman begins: “The country is 100% 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. President @realDonaldTrump has elevated the tariff issue to the most important geopolitical issue in the world, and he has gotten everyone’s attention. So far, so good.”
The country is 100% 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.
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) April 6, 2025
President @realDonaldTrump has elevated the tariff issue to the most important geopolitical…
Going so far as to call on a nuclear war analogy, Ackman warns: “The president has an opportunity to call a 90-day time out, negotiate and resolve unfair asymmetric tariff deals, and induce trillions of dollars of new investment in our country. If, on the other hand, on April 9th we launch economic nuclear war on every country in the world, business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate.”
Ackman admits: “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. The President has an opportunity on Monday to call a time out and have the time to execute on fixing an unfair tariff system. Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down. May cooler heads prevail.”
U.S. Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) replied to Ackman: “If you enabled him in becoming president may I suggest you shut the [expletive] up?”
“Cooler head” Peter Schiff, Chief Economist & Global Strategist at Euro Pac Assets, replied to Ackman: “All nations have tariffs or import quotas, including the U.S. Our record trade deficits have nothing to do with tariffs. Even if every nation went to zero tariffs tomorrow, our trade deficits would persist. We need real structural reforms that Trump refuses to advocate for.”
Political economist Toby Rogers, a Brownstone Institute fellow, also replied to Ackman: “Trump’s policy is NOT ‘reciprocal tariffs’. He could have those right now if he wanted. Trump’s policy is a return to mercantilism (U.S. trade surpluses with every country on Earth). Until you understand that, nothing else will make sense.”
Rogers also criticized White House Deputy of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Stephen Miller’s defense of Trump’s tariffs. As seen below, Rogers responded: “Hard to imagine a bigger messaging disaster than the roll out of Trump’s trade killing tariffs over the last five days.”
Hard to imagine a bigger messaging disaster than the roll out of Trump's trade killing tariffs over the last five days. @SusieWiles https://t.co/EStiNmyHfO
— Toby Rogers (@uTobian) April 7, 2025
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