Major GOP donor: US 'has become 20 percent poorer in 4 weeks'

GOP donor Ken Griffin suggested the value of the U.S. dollar has significantly deteriorated compared to the euro in the past month under the thumb of President Trump’s latest tariff hike on global trading partners. 

Griffin, the founder and CEO of Citadel, said the country “has become 20 percent poorer in four weeks,” in conversation with Semafor’s Gina Chon at the World Economy Summit. Since the start of the year, the dollar index has weakened by more than 9 percent. 

He added that the currency's deflation amid shifts in economic policy and the president's latest attack on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has jeopardized the nation’s pristine reputation.

“We put that brand at risk,” Griffin told Chon. “It can be a lifetime to repair the damage that has been done.”

The hedge fund manager echoed economists and world leaders who said new tariff measures will produce no winners but instead force all parties involved to “tread water and not drown.”

Trump's announcement earlier this year to impose a 10 percent baseline tax on almost all foreign imports and higher "reciprocal" taxes on many countries have impacted the U.S.'s friends and foes alike. While he issued a three-month reprieve for most of the retaliatory tariffs, excluding China, Griffin said the extra taxes — including the 25 percent tariff on Canada and Mexico — risk the country losing some of its oldest allies.

“How does Canada feel about our country today versus two months ago? How does Europe feel about the United States today versus two months ago?” Griffin asked. 

“And some people scream, 'Well, it just doesn’t matter.' But you know what? It matters for a very profound reason," he continued. "The entire Western world is engulfed in a debt crisis."

The longtime GOP donor bucked Trump’s theory that foreign manufacturers will race to build new factories within the U.S.

“I’ll tell you what’s not going to happen is, people are not going to raise [money] to build manufacturing in America,” he said, adding, “because with the policy volatility, you actually undermine the very goal you’re trying to achieve.”

The rise in costs for steel and aluminum imports in particular is set to rattle the U.S. factories of automakers, construction firms and beverage-makers that use cans.

Griffin's words echo sentiments from other top economists who have remained largely skeptical of Trump's trade agenda, signaling a recession is on the horizon in the coming months if the president does not change course.