[Source/Observer Network, Ruan Jiaqi]
According to reports from The Washington Post of the United States and the Financial Times of the UK on August 8, as more and more people are increasingly concerned that Trump's tariff policies will lead to market crashes, the number of billionaires and financiers publicly criticizing and opposing this decision by the US President is growing, including some of Trump's political sponsors.
The harshest criticism came from Bill Ackman, a well-known hedge fund manager and billionaire in the United States, who is expected to run for president in the 2024 US presidential election. He warned in a long post on Sunday that continuing to impose new tariffs was akin to launching an "economic nuclear war."
According to CNN reports, Bill Ackman is one of Trump's biggest supporters on Wall Street. In the past few days, this "die-hard sponsor" has repeatedly posted on social media X against Trump's tariff policies.
In a post published on June 6, he asked, "If the U.S. were to launch an economic nuclear war against every country in the world on April 9, commercial investment would come to a halt, consumers would tighten their wallets, and the U.S. would severely damage its reputation among other countries in the world, which would take years or even decades to restore. Who, then, among CEOs or boards of directors, would be willing to make large-scale, long-term economic commitments to the U.S. in an economic nuclear war?"
Excerpt from the long post
This founder of Pershing Square Capital Management also warned that unless Trump admitted his mistake before April 9 and called off the reciprocal tariffs before "making a big mistake," the U.S. "would head toward a self-inflicted economic nuclear winter," and people must "prepare for economic downturns."
"Business is a game of confidence. The president is losing the trust of global business leaders," Ackman added. "This will have extremely negative effects on millions of Americans supporting the president, especially low-income consumers who are already under immense economic pressure. This is not the result we voted for."
CNN noticed that the post had been viewed nearly 14 million times. This seemed to embarrass the Trump administration. Kevin Hassett, director of the White House National Economic Council, mentioned Ackman's remarks when he appeared on Fox News on Monday morning. He said, "I urge everyone, especially Bill (Ackman), to tone down their rhetoric a bit."
But Hassett clearly couldn't silence this group of Wall Street tycoons. Following closely, Ken Langone, co-founder of home improvement retailer The Home Depot and a long-time donor to the Republican Party, also launched a fierce attack on Trump.
Langone's words were more straightforward. He said that the U.S. president "is not getting wise advice," calling the 46% tariff on Vietnam "nonsense," and the 34% tariff on China "too aggressive and implemented too quickly," leaving no room for "serious negotiations."
"A 46% tariff on Vietnam? Come on!" he complained to the Financial Times. "You might as well just tell them, 'Don't bother calling us anymore.'"
However, Langone does not oppose the tariff policy itself; he is dissatisfied with how the Trump administration is implementing it. "I won't implement all these measures at once," he said. He believes a "more manageable and constructive" approach would be to impose a comprehensive tariff of 10% on imported goods and then engage in bilateral negotiations with various countries. "I think this would work. Everyone is afraid of a tariff war now."
"I really don't understand this damn formula," Langone added. "I think his advisors gave him bad advice about this trade situation and the solutions they adopted."
Wilbur Ross, Trump's first-term Commerce Secretary, quickly changed his stance. Just over a week ago, he claimed that the markets were "overreacting" to the tariff impact, but now he has joined the ranks warning that the tariff impact will be "beyond expectations."
"The situation is more serious than I expected," Ross told the Financial Times. "Especially the tariffs on Vietnam, China, and Cambodia are more extreme than I imagined."
Ross did not directly criticize Trump, but he also believed there was a problem with the calculation method. "I have some doubts about the logic of the calculation formula. This is quite an unconventional way of measuring tariffs."
"We are in a period of extreme fear of the unknown," he added. "I hope the most affected countries will step forward and reach agreements quickly."
Elon Musk, who had remained silent before the announcement of the tariffs, also broke his pattern. Over the weekend, he openly criticized Peter Navarro, one of the main architects of Trump's tariff policies and chief trade advisor.
On social media X, Musk mocked Navarro's Harvard University Ph.D. in Economics, suggesting it could lead to arrogance and lack of wisdom, and criticized Navarro for doing "nothing" in the tariff disaster. Navarro retaliated, saying Musk was "just a car salesman."
Navarro's response to Musk
The Washington Post noticed that in another post released on Monday, Musk shared a video from conservative anti-tariff economist Milton Friedman promoting the advantages of free markets.
Another notable change in stance came from Jamie Dimon, chairman of JPMorgan Chase. Although he is not a supporter of Trump's 2024 campaign, he has always been a loyal supporter of Trump's tariff policies. As recently as January, he told those skeptical of the tariff plans that tariffs were beneficial to the country, even if they caused "slight" inflation, echoing Trump's call for Americans to "bear the pain."
However, in his annual letter to shareholders on Monday, Dimon's tone made a 180-degree turnaround. He warned that tariffs would push up prices in the U.S. and increase the risk of recession.
Dimon also said that tariffs could weaken the U.S. by splitting military and economic alliances, as economic wars had historically led to military wars. "The sooner this issue is resolved, the better, because some negative impacts will accumulate over time and become difficult to reverse in the future."
Stanley Druckenmiller, a heavyweight figure on Wall Street and founder of Duquesne Capital, expressed his stance on the same day, stating that he did not support tariffs exceeding 10%.
According to the New York Post, this billionaire, who supports the Republican camp, rarely spoke on social media platforms. However, Trump's tariff policies have completely "broken his silence," and he has been posting on X for several consecutive days to explicitly oppose reciprocal tariffs.
It is worth noting that Druckenmiller was once the former "mentor" of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. At that time, they both worked under financial tycoon George Soros. Currently, Yellen is fully defending Trump's tariff policies, claiming that "tariffs will not lead to a recession." It remains to be seen how he views this "former protégé."
CNN reported that Trump repeatedly boasted that his tariff agenda aimed to correct years of trade imbalances between the U.S. and its partners. However, investors clearly do not believe that this tariff plan is "wise."
The market has responded. On July 7, U.S. stock futures continued their steep decline. The Nikkei 225 closed down 7.83%, the S&P/ASX 200 index fell 4.2%, and the KOSPI index dropped 5.57%. The three major A-share indices all declined. By the close on July 7, the Shanghai Composite Index fell 7.34%, the Shenzhen Component Index fell 9.66%, and the ChiNext Index fell 12.5%. The Taiwan Weighted Index closed down 9.7%, and the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index currently fell more than 12%.
Facing the wave of questions and counterattacks sparked by his tariff policies, Trump remained resolute. On local time July 7, Trump claimed that he was "not considering" suspending tariffs for negotiations. He tried to emphasize that many countries were negotiating with the U.S.
He defended himself by saying, "If I hadn't done what I did in the past few weeks, no one would be willing to negotiate. Now they come to us."
As The Washington Post put it, "Clearly, panic over the impact of tariffs is spreading, and this panic comes precisely from many people who have placed heavy bets on Trump."
This article is an exclusive contribution of the Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7490781926748373558/
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