President Donald Trump’s surprise 90-day pause on his aggressive tariff plan, announced Wednesday via social media, sparked immediate reactions from major business and economic figures. Here’s what they said.
Bill Ackman
Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, in a post on X, wrote, “This was brilliantly executed by Donald Trump.” He had previously advocated for a pause “to enable negotiations to be completed without a major global economic disruption that will harm the most vulnerable companies and citizens of our country.”
Ackman added, “The benefit of @realDonaldTrump’s approach is that we now understand who are our preferred trading partners, and who the problems are,” noting “China has shown themselves to be a bad actor.” In a direct call to Beijing, he said, “Advice for China: Pick up the phone and call the President. He is a tough but fair negotiator.” Ackman also observed, “The countries that showed up first and offered zero tariffs will now be rewarded with more business.”
Ray Dalio
Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio stated on X, “This is a great time for all involved to reconsider their approaches! … President Trump’s decision to step back from a worse way and negotiate how to deal with these imbalances is a much better way.” He added, “I hope and expect that he will do the same with the Chinese, which I believe includes negotiating a deal that appreciates the RMB against the dollar.”
Mark Cuban
On Bluesky, Mark Cuban re-posted economist Paulo dos Santos’s statement calling Trump’s tariffs “the Ivermectin of economic strategy.” Before the pause was announced, Cuban wrote, “What some people aren’t factoring into their analysis is the reality that companies were buying tons of inventory to beat the tariffs.”
David Sacks
PayPal and Yammer cofounder David Sacks declared, “They did everything they could to create a panic … They were rooting for Trump to fail even if it meant the market and economy crashed.” He continued, “Fortunately their hopes have been dashed. Trump has been vindicated.”
Richard Branson
Virgin Group co-founder Richard Branson posted, “As I wrote earlier this week, this was a moment for the US administration to accept their mistake and change course.” Earlier, he had stated, “Even if you agree with the premise of these tariffs, every reasonable effort should be made to give US companies sufficient time to adapt.”
Diane Swonk
KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk cautioned, “We have not escaped the tariff problems. The effective tariff rate is actually HIGHER with the pause than it was as announced on April 2.” She added, “The tariff pause is a moving target … takes the effective tariff rate to a RECORD.”
Chris Fralic
Finally, First Round Capital partner Chris Fralic posted, “Good to be liberated from Liberation Day.” He followed up with, “If your portfolio drops by X% and then rises by X%, you’ll still be below your starting point.”
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