Griffin calls tariffs a ‘painfully regressive tax,’ hitting working class the hardest

Billionaire Ken Griffin, founder and CEO of the Citadel hedge fund, mentioned working class Individuals will bear the brunt of President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs on U.S. buying and selling companions.

“Tariffs hit the pocketbook of hardworking Individuals the toughest,” Griffin mentioned on CNBC’s “Closing Bell Time beyond regulation” Wednesday. “It is like a gross sales tax for the American folks. It should hit those that are working the toughest to make ends meet. That is my huge subject with tariffs. It is such a painfully regressive tax.”

Trump rolled out shockingly excessive levies on imports final month, triggering excessive swings on Wall Avenue. The president later went on to announce a 90-day pause on a lot of the rise, apart from China, because the White Home sought to strike offers with main buying and selling companions. Trump has slapped tariffs of 145% on imported Chinese language items this yr, prompting China to impose retaliatory levies of 125%.

Griffin, whose hedge fund managed greater than $65 billion in the beginning of 2025, voted for Trump and was a megadonor to Republican politicians. However he has additionally criticized Trump’s commerce coverage, saying it dangers spoiling the “model” of the USA and its authorities bond market.

“The rationale the American voters elected President Trump was due to the failed financial insurance policies of Joe Biden and the inflationary shock that decreased the actual incomes of each American family,” Griffin mentioned. “The president actually does must give attention to managing inflation, as a result of I believe it is entrance and heart, the first rating card that American voters are going to consider with regards to this midterm election.”

The Wall Avenue titan mentioned there’s a “modest” danger of stagflation as larger tariffs create each inflationary pressures and decelerate the economic system. He mentioned the trajectory of the economic system largely will depend on how Trump’s financial coverage develops.

As laid out by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trump’s financial program takes a three-pronged strategy: commerce, tax cuts and deregulation.

“The query is, will all three of these come collectively to offer us the expansion that we’d like in our economic system?,” Griffin requested. “That is the actual query we’ll face over the following two years.”