Pause the Tariffs or Face a Crash, Billionaire Investor Bill Ackman Tells Trump

Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, Pershing Square Capital Management founder and CEO, has sounded a dire warning about President Donald Trump's recent tariff declarations. In a lengthy social media post on platform X, Ackman warned that the administration's bold trade policies have the potential to bring about an 'economic nuclear winter'.

“We are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down” He mentioned in his post.

Ackman voiced his backing for correcting unfair trade patterns, saying that the trade is 100% behind the president in fixing a global system of tariffs that has hurt the country.  He also underlined that Business is a confidence game and confidence relies on trust.

Risks of Tariff Application

The hedge fund manager pointed out the hazards of levying widespread tariffs on both allies and competitors. 
 

“By imposing huge and unequal tariffs on our friends and our enemies both and thus declaring a worldwide economic war against the entire world simultaneously, we are destroying confidence in our nation as a trading partner, as a country in which to do business, and as an investment market for capital”, he wrote.  

He also replied to a comment from a user @The_ Real_Fly  that briefly explained Why markets are crashing. 

Call For A Pause

Ackman suggested a 90-day timeout to make room for talks to address unjust tariff deals.
"The president can call a 90-day timeout, negotiate and settle unfair asymmetric tariff bargains, and prompt trillions of dollars of fresh investment in our nation," he said on X.

He cautioned that going ahead with the tariffs now could have far-reaching economic implications:
 

"If, instead, on April 9th we declare economic nuclear war against all nations in the world, business investment will come to a standstill, consumers will shut their pocketbooks and wallets, and we will irreparably harm our standing with the rest of the world that will take years and maybe decades to restore."  he said further. 

Impact on Investment and Employment

Ackman questioned the desire of corporate CEOs to make big investments under such uncertainty saying,
 

"What CEO and what board of directors will feel comfortable making large, long-term, economic commitments in our country in the middle of an economic nuclear war? I don't know of one who will do so."

He also elaborated on the overall economic consequence hinting market situation as troublesome. 
“When markets collapse, new investment ceases, consumers cease spending money, and companies have no option but to cut back on investment and lay off employees", he said.

Impact On Business

Highlighting the extent of the impact on small businesses and consumers,  Ackman said that big businesses will hurt while Small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs will feel much more pain. he also noted that practically no business can survive a sudden huge jump in costs to their customers.

He also referred to the waning confidence among business leaders.

"Business is a confidence game. The president is losing the confidence of business leaders around the globe. The consequences for our country and the millions of our citizens who have supported the president — in particular 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", he said. 

Ackman's call to action emphasizes the imperative need for a careful and deliberate trade policy strategy. With the April 9th deadline looming, his alert is a call to the administration to rethink its position to avoid potentially catastrophic economic repercussions.