Billionaire Bill Ackman, A Trump Megadonor, Warns President’s Tariffs Risk ‘Economic Nuclear Winter’

Billionaire hedge fund manager and longtime Trump megadonor Bill Ackman issued a stark warning Sunday night, declaring that the United States is barreling toward a “self-induced economic nuclear winter” due to President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariff policies.

In a detailed post on X, Ackman implored Trump to reconsider his sweeping 10% tariffs on imports, urging the president to call a 90-day timeout to renegotiate “unfair asymmetric tariff deals.”

“The President has an opportunity on Monday to call a time out and have the time to execute on fixing an unfair tariff system,” Ackman wrote. “Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down.”

Ackman, who publicly endorsed Trump’s re-election and donated millions to his campaign, argued that while the U.S. has long suffered under unfair global trade policies, the current approach is undermining global trust and investor confidence. “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,” he said. “President Trump has elevated the tariff issue to the most important geopolitical issue in the world. So far, so good…But by placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on both our friends and adversaries, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner.”

Financial markets have already begun to show signs of strain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been sharply down, and small businesses are reportedly feeling the squeeze. Ackman warned that unless there’s a course correction, capital investment will grind to a halt, consumer spending will shrink, and companies will be forced to lay off workers.

“The consequences… for 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,” Ackman concluded.

Amid the crisis, Trump spent the weekend playing golf and bragging about winning.

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Article by Evelyn Qiu