Ackman warns of 'economic nuclear winter' from Trump tariffs
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Hedge fund manager and Trump supporter Bill Ackman warned that rushing into reciprocal tariffs could trigger an "economic nuclear winter."
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Bill Ackman, CEO and founder of Pershing Square Capital, visits the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on November 10, 2015. (AP)
A report by Axios on Monday cited hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, who warned Sunday night that the world could face an “economic nuclear winter” if Trump does not pause the planned reciprocal tariffs.
Ackman, a staunch Trump supporter, put the market's fears about the fate of the global economy in the starkest terms possible.
"The President has an opportunity on Monday to call a time-out and have the time to execute on fixing an unfair tariff system. Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down," Ackman wrote in a lengthy post to X.
"May cooler heads prevail."
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.
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) April 6, 2025
President @realDonaldTrump has elevated the tariff issue to the most important geopolitical…
Ackman's Sunday post follows another Saturday where he suggested the world would be better off with a pause on Wednesday's reciprocal tariffs, warning of a "potentially severe" recession otherwise.
Sunday's rhetoric, though, raised the stakes.
Ackman's latest post recognized the administration's argument that the US has long suffered from unfair trade practices by other countries, but he warned that hastily implementing tariffs would do more harm than good. He urged Trump to treat this moment as a chance to delay the tariffs for 90 days and seek a negotiated solution.
Otherwise, he warned, "business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate."
Ackman, who endorsed Trump last summer shortly after an assassination attempt on him during a campaign rally, has since actively promoted Trump’s candidacy. In October, he laid out a detailed case for why Trump is the better choice, later expressing hope that his win would trigger the "implosion" of the Democratic Party.
Trump won't back down from tariffs despite market crash: Axios
On Sunday, Axios reported that senior officials in the Trump administration showed no intention of backing down from the president's sweeping new tariff plan, even after global markets suffered massive losses. Investors saw over $6 trillion wiped out on Thursday and Friday alone, raising alarm that Monday could bring even greater turmoil unless the administration steps in to ease trade tensions.
Despite those warnings, Trump's economic team appeared across major Sunday talk shows to reaffirm that the tariff policy will move forward as planned. There will be no delays, no last-minute adjustments, and certainly no reversals.
"The tariffs are coming. He announced it, and he wasn't kidding. The tariffs are coming, of course they are," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on CBS's Face the Nation.
Meanwhile, on NBC's Meet the Press, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent dismissed any suggestion that the administration was open to revising the approach: "No. No, no, no. I think that we are going to have to see the path forward. Because, you know, after 20, 30, 40, 50 years of bad behavior, you can't just wipe the slate clean."
Their remarks come as concern deepens among major investors, including Ackman's comments.
