GOP Megadonor Ken Griffin Warns ‘Terrifying’ Trump Trade Policies Are Leading To ‘Crony Capitalism’

President Donald Trump’s economic policies have pushed the U.S. economy toward recession, but many GOP megadonors also see something even worse – the start of crony capitalism.

“The government starts to pick winners and losers,” Citadel Founder Ken Griffin, one of Trump’s most prominent donors in 2024, said during the Milken Institute’s Global Conference. “I thought that would play out over the course of years. It’s terrifying to watch this play out over the course of weeks.”

Griffin was one of the few to speak from the perspective of American consumers.

“Whether it’s a flat-screen TV or a new laptop, your dollar is just not going to go as far,” he said.

The high tariffs on imported goods threaten to push the world economy into recession.

With Trump offering exemptions from tariffs to favored companies, the White House can choose which firms can trade with minimal to no restrictions. Griffin compared the Trump administration’s practices to “crony capitalism.”

The Trump administration is now working with the GOP-controlled Congress to push through an extension of the 2017 tax cut while making significant cuts to Medicaid, the health program for the poor.