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US President Donald Trump is moving too fast, alienating allies, making Americans poorer, and tarnishing the sterling reputation of US assets, Citadel CEO and founder Ken Griffin said Wednesday.
Though the president may have identified real problems, his methods to solve them don’t appear to be working, and are unlikely to revive American manufacturing, Griffin told Semafor’s Gina Chon at the World Economy Summit in Washington, DC.
Previously, Griffin said, “no brand compared” to US Treasurys, the strength of the US dollar, or the nation’s creditworthiness. But Trump’s tactics have “eroded” that reputation.
“We put that brand at risk,” the billionaire hedge fund manager said. “It can be a lifetime to repair the damage that has been done.”
Investors have dumped US stocks and Treasurys in recent weeks in response to Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs on imports to the US. While most countries have been granted a 90-day reprieve, Trump has increased duties on China and suggested he might fire Jerome Powell, the respected governor of the US Federal Reserve. (Trump walked back those comments, saying he has no plans to remove Powell.)
Using the euro as a reference, the US “has become 20% poorer in four weeks,” Griffin said, an environment that produces no winners or bright spots.
“There’s no great opportunity when the pie is rapidly shrinking,” Griffin said. “All you’re trying to do is tread water and not drown.”
Griffin said his “gravest concern” is whether officials can conduct themselves so that they don’t “diminish the stature” of the US.
“How does Canada feel about our country today versus two months ago? How does Europe feel about the United States today versus two months ago?” Griffin said. “And some people scream, well, it just doesn’t matter. But you know what? It matters for a very profound reason. The entire Western world is engulfed in a debt crisis.”
Griffin compared the situation facing companies to that facing Harvard: Trump was “spot on that Harvard has room to address some very important, meaningful issues,” he said, but the administration’s targeting of the school has escalated to “an attack on one of America’s preeminent brands.”
“What name in the world is more valued than the name Harvard?” Griffin asked.
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Griffin is one of the Republican Party’s biggest donors and has previously downplayed the threat of trade duties.
Still, the tariffs have been a major focus for Citadel, at a time when Griffin had expected a breather from the pressures of new regulations under the Biden administration.
Griffin had been relishing “the idea that I have four years to focus on my business.” But thanks to tariff turmoil, the country “has devolved into a nonsensical place” where business leaders are distracted by concerns such as supply chain disruptions.
Griffin said he’s skeptical that investors will build new US factories, a major Trump goal.
“I’ll tell you what’s not going to happen is, people are not going to raise [money] to build manufacturing in America,” he said, “because with the policy volatility, you actually undermine the very goal you’re trying to achieve.”
The Semafor View
The boundaryless pools of money that defined finance in the last 20 years are retreating, and capital is becoming a national resource to be protected. Public and private markets seem set to converge: Where they meet — and which firms stake out territory — could determine finance’s winners over the next decade.
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