 "US President Donald Trump is facing criticism for his tariff policy. Top American business leaders and Republican donors are warning against the impact of levies as financial markets fluctuate. File photo/Reuters")
Many of America’s rich and influential endorsed Donald Trump during his 2024 presidential bid. Now, as the tariffs imposed on US trading partners bring uncertainty to global financial markets and losses mount, several business leaders are turning on the president. Elon Musk included.
Amid this, Donald Trump remains defiant. He is going ahead with this trade policy, even threatening to hit Beijing with an extra 50 per cent levy if it doesn’t withdraw the retaliatory tariffs. But is Potus going too far?
We take a look at what America’s wealthy businessmen are saying.
Elon Musk
Elon Musk is one of Trump’s closest advisors. But even the president’s “First Buddy” and biggest donor has hinted that the tariffs should be negotiated.
On Saturday, Musk called for “a zero-tariff situation” between the US and Europe and went on to say that Peter Navarro, Trump’s senior adviser on trade, “ain’t built shit”.
While Navarro downplayed the differences with the Tesla and Starlink owner, he said that the pushback was self-serving. “Elon when he’s in his Doge lane is great, but we understand what’s going on here. Elon sells cars. He’s simply protecting his own interests,” he said in an interview with Fox News.
He said that although Tesla’s factories are located in the United States, including Texas, the company’s supply chain is globally dependent. “They get a lot of their content from China, Mexico, Japan, and Taiwan and elsewhere,” he added.
Musk has personally urged Trump to reverse sweeping tariffs on China, reports The Washington Post. However, the private talks have not brought any success so far.
The tech billionaire also posted a video on X on April 7 in which the late economist Milton Friedman spoke about the benefits of international trade cooperation – “the impersonal operation of prices,” as he put it – breaking down the sources of materials that go into making a pencil.
The disagreement over tariffs is probably the first big rift between Trump and Musk.
The world’s richest man has already seen his wealth drop since becoming a part of Doge, Trump’s cost-cutting initiative. After the “Liberation Day” tariffs were announced, Telsa, which is facing a backlash, saw shares plunge. Musk saw $31 billion wiped off his net worth by Friday. Shares of the EV firm fell nearly five per cent on Monday, only adding to the losses. This year, Musk’s estimated wealth has fallen by $130 billion.
Jamie Dimon
Jamie Dimon, one of the world’s most influential business leaders, has warned against Trump’s tariff policy. The CEO of JPMorgan, the multinational financial services giant, has said that the levies threaten to raise prices and drive the global economy into a downturn.
In his annual letter to shareholders, Dimon wrote, “The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession… “Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth.”
According to him, Trump’s ‘America First’ vision could undermine the country’s position in the world. “America First is fine, as long as it doesn’t end up being America alone,” Dimon said. “If the Western world’s military and economic alliances were to fragment, America itself would inevitably weaken over time,” he said.
He also pointed out that these forces are inextricably linked. “It is extremely important to recognise that security and economics are interconnected – “economic” warfare has caused military warfare in the past,” he wrote, according to CNN.
Dimon spoke about how the US does not have trade agreements with some of its closest allies and suggested that Washington could bring nonaligned nations like India closer by extending a friendly hand.
“Deepening high-standard trade with key trading partners is good economics and great geopolitics. We don’t need to ask many nonaligned nations, like India and Brazil, to align with us - but we can bring them closer to us by simply extending a friendly hand with trade and investment,” said the JPMorgan CEO.
The US has slapped a 26 per cent duty on Indian imports , and a trade pact between the two nations is in the works. Ten per cent tariffs have been imposed on Brazil.
Bill Ackman
Billionaire Bill Ackman, who backed Trump’s 2024 presidential bid, warned that going ahead was tariffs meant launching an “economic nuclear war”.
In a lengthy post on X, the CEO of Pershing Square, an American hedge fund management company, 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.” His remarks have 13.9 million views and 8,500 reposts.
Ackman suggested that Trump should pause tariffs for 90 days. “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,” he wrote.
“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,’ he continued.
Ken Langone
Ken Langone, the co-founder of home improvement giant Home Depot, hit out at Trump’s extensive tariffs for being too high and implemented too quickly. The longtime Republican donor told the Financial Times (FT) that the president was being “poorly advised”.
Langone said that 46 per cent tariffs were “bullshit” and the additional 34 per cent on China was “too aggressive, too soon” and did not give “serious negotiations a chance to work”.
“Forty-six per cent on Vietnam? Come on!” Langone told FT. “You might as well tell them, ‘Don’t even bother calling.’”
His statements came before Trump threatened Beijing with additional 50 per cent tariffs if it did not take back its retaliatory levies.
Stanley Druckenmiller
Billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller has also made his stand clear. In a post on X, he wrote, “I do not support tariffs exceeding 10%”.
Druckenmiller, who is the founder of the investment firm Duquesne Family Office, is reportedly a mentor to US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. He has in the past maintained the 10 per cent threshold on import duties. In January, he told CNBC, “As long as we stay in the 10% range, …I think the risks [from tariffs] are overblown relative to the rewards, the rewards on high, it’s more like they’re the lesser of two evils.”
Daniel Loeb
Longtime hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb criticised the tariff calculations. He praised an analysis by the American Enterprise Institute that said that Trump’s tariff formula “made no economic sense”.
“Thoughtful piece on potential conceptual as well as practical errors that went into the announced tariff policy. It will be a test of the administration’s judgment versus ideology how they resolve this…” he said in a post on X on April 5.
Ken Fisher
Ken Fisher, the founder and executive chairman of Fisher Investments, said on X, “What Trump unveiled (last) Wednesday is stupid, wrong, arrogantly extreme, ignorant trade-wise and addressing a non-problem with misguided tools. 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 billionaire said that he is not vocal about “errors” made by presidents, but on tariffs, “Trump is beyond the pale by a long shot”.
All of what Trump unveiled is aimed at reducing/eliminating the U.S. trade deficit. Trade deficits have, by themselves, never been causal or predictive of anything. Ever. His statement they are “a loss” is wrong. They are a non-problem.
As volatility grips financial markets and the fears of recession loom, the voices against Trump’s tariffs seem to grow. These are influential men, many of whom had put their faith in Trump. However, Potus is proving bad for business, and this is not going well. They are making it loud and clear. The big question remains: Is Donald Trump listening?
With inputs from agencies