Here's what Wall Street's brightest minds are saying about Trump's tariff-fueled market meltdown

• US stocks were pummeled again on Monday.
• Recession concerns sent major indexes lower, with the S&P 500 on the verge of a bear market.
• Here's what some of the top Wall Street veterans are saying about the sell-off.

Donald Trump's tariff plan is making stock market history — and Wall Street is reeling.

The president's latest and most aggressive round of tariffs has fueled the worst market sell-off since 2020, leaving Wall Street on edge as concerns swirl over the economic impact of tariffs and the growing possibility of a recession in 2025.

Stocks extended their losses on Monday, with all three benchmark indexes diving into the red and the S&P 500 briefly entering a bear market as Trump doubled down on his resolve to lower the trade deficit.

Here's what Wall Street's top minds have been saying over the last 24 hours.

Bill Ackman: Tariffs will kick off an 'economic nuclear war'

Economic chaos is likely if Trump doesn't pause or scale back tariffs immediately, billionaire hedge funder Bill Ackman said in a post on X on Monday.

Ackman, who endorsed Trump during the presidential campaign, urged the president to call off tariffs for 90 days to allow the US and other countries to negotiate over trade policy.

"If, on the other hand, on April 9th we launch economic nuclear war on every country in the world, business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocketbooks, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate," the Perishing Square founder wrote.

In a separate post, Ackman said his firm would not sell its shares in the US stock market affected by tariffs during the sell-off.

"We will suffer mark-to-market losses if the market crashes, but we will not be sellers in a declining market," Ackman said. "Over the long term, we are exposed to the health of our country and its economy. This is my only investment 'conflict' if you want to call it that," he added.

Boaz Weinstein: Brace for an 'avalanche' in markets

The sell-off in stocks could get even worse, according to Boaz Weinstein, the famed hedge funder and founder of Saba Capital Management. That's because Trump's trade war could rattle the bond market, potentially sparking a wave of bankruptcies, he said, speaking to Bloomberg TV.

"This is not going to get fixed tomorrow. I believe you cannot put the genie back in the bottle," Weinstein told the outlet in an interview published on Monday, pointing to reciprocal tariffs from China and other knock-off effects from Trump's tariff plan.

"The avalanche has really just started," he added. "The hit could be faster and the bankruptcy rate could spike much faster than other crises."

Weinstein said he saw a "real possibility" that the US could enter a severe recession, pointing to how the Smoot-Hawley tariffs worsened the economic situation leading into the Great Depression.

"There might be something in between that stops the boulder, but I'm very concerned about a crash," he said.

Jamie Dimon: 'We're not in Kansas anymore'

The JPMorgan boss warned of the impact of tariffs in his latest annual letter to shareholders, adding that the steep duties on US imports could slow growth and raise inflation.

"The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession," the CEO wrote.

Dimon also mentioned stagflation, a scenario where economic growth remains sluggish while inflation stays high. Economists say such an outcome, which plagued the US economy in the 1970s, would be even harder for policymakers to deal with than a recession, as inflationary pressures would prevent the Fed from lowering interest rates to stimulate the economy.

"This tug-of-war can go on for some time, but it's good to remember that in the stagflation of the 1970s, recessions did not stop the inexorable trend of rising rates," he added.

Stanley Druckenmiller: "Simply a consumption tax

The top investor reiterated his stance against tariffs in a post on X on Monday.

"I do not support tariffs exceeding 10% which I made abundantly clear in the interview you cite," Druckenmiller wrote in response to another post, which featured a video clip of a previous interview with Druckenmiller on CNBC.

In the interview, Druckenmiller said he saw tariffs within "the 10% range" as the "lesser of two evils," adding that he believed that duties on US imports were "simply a consumption tax" that was partly paid for by foreign countries.