Citadel founder Ken Griffin extended his criticism of the Trump administration’s trade policy, saying that tariffs won’t bring back American manufacturing jobs the way that the president anticipates and the country should play to its strengths instead.
“He dreams of giving people their dignity back, and I have to applaud him for having that dream. But the dream is not going to come true,” Griffin, speaking Friday at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, said of President Donald Trump. “These jobs are not coming back to America. And to be clear, with an unemployment rate of 4%, America has moved on.”
The Citadel billionaire, who earlier this week said the trade war has devolved into a “nonsensical” place, has warned that the US is putting its global brand at risk as a result of the tariff policies. On Friday, he said the administration has embraced a transactional mindset that runs contrary to the best interests of the country.
Speaking as part of Stanford’s “View From the Top” series in Silicon Valley, Griffin argued the US should try to play to its strengths, such as creating intellectual property and content, rather than bringing back jobs in factories that have largely automated their production anyway.
“These are jobs that pay a stunning amount of money as compared to working in a factory, making zippers or making home appliances or making flat-screen TVs,” he said.
Griffin said he had spoken a few weeks ago with a senior Chinese government official who questioned why US trade policy would be to foster low-paying factory jobs and become more like China, instead of being the world power that China is trying to emulate.
The Republican megadonor said the US “screwed up” when it came to helping those who lost their jobs to globalization, and noted that much of the president’s electoral support came from people who felt like the economy hadn’t been working for them. Still, Griffin said the US has benefited more from globalization than China, and the trade war has fractured the country’s relationship with the rest of the world.
The administration’s pause of more widespread tariffs “creates space for them to take a step back and reflect upon their goals of creating jobs and dignity for those affected by globalization, and at the same time, securing and reaffirming the important role America plays in the world,” he said.
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