Billionaire investor Ken Griffin said President Donald Trump's latest tariffs are a "huge policy mistake."
Griffin, a GOP megadonor, said Trump's tariffs amount to a hefty tax on the middle-class families.
"It's going to cost you 20%, 30%, 40% more for your groceries, for your toaster, for a new vacuum cleaner, for a new car," Griffin told a crowd at a University of Miami event in Coral Gables, Florida, Bloomberg reported.
"Even if the dream of jobs coming back to America plays out, that's a 20-year dream. It's not 20 weeks. It's not two years. It's decades."
Griffin also expressed concern the tariffs could undermine U.S. influence internationally.
"We have led the world for 70 to 80 years," he said, Bloomberg reported. "I am really afraid of us abdicating our role of leadership for the free world. That's the path we're on."
The Citadel founder and CEO urged people to contact the White House to encourage Trump to pull back on the tariffs.
In late November, Griffin cautioned Trump's proposed tariffs could lead the U.S. down a dangerous path toward crony capitalism, jeopardizing long-term economic competitiveness.
Griffin gave at least $100 million to pro-Republican political action committees in the past presidential cycle, according to OpenSecrets. None of that money, though, went to support Trump's campaign.
Griffin joined other business leaders in criticizing Trump's tariffs.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon cautioned investors that the turmoil caused by U.S. tariffs and a global trade war could slow growth in the world's largest economy, spur inflation, and potentially lead to lasting negative consequences.
Billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman, who endorsed Trump last year, said the president is losing the confidence of business leaders and should pause his trade war.
Even Elon Musk, who heads Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, disagrees with the president's tariffs. He posted on X a video of late libertarian economist Milton Friedman explaining how the global supply chain worked to produce a simple pencil.
Reuters contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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