'Self-induced nuclear winter': Trump supporter Bill Ackman slams reciprocal tariffs

Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman is pleading with President Trump to hit the brakes on sweeping new tariffs, warning that the global economy is teetering on the edge of a “self-induced economic nuclear winter.”

In a lengthy post on X Sunday night, Ackman—once a vocal Trump backer—urged the president to call a temporary timeout.
“The President has an opportunity on Monday to call a time out and have the time to execute on fixing an unfair tariff system,” Ackman wrote. “Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down. May cooler heads prevail.”

Ackman’s remarks come as Trump pushes ahead with a 10% across-the-board tariff on imports, despite mounting concern from global markets and corporate leaders. While Ackman acknowledged the need to reform a global system that has disadvantaged US industries, he said the president’s current approach is backfiring.

“The country is 100% behind the president on fixing a global system of tariffs that has disadvantaged the country,” he wrote. “But business is a confidence game, and confidence depends on trust.”

Ackman warned that by targeting both allies and adversaries with “massive and disproportionate tariffs,” the administration risks tanking the US’s reputation as a stable trading partner and destination for investment.

“We are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business, and as a market to invest capital,” he said.
Calling for a 90-day pause to renegotiate “unfair asymmetric tariff deals,” Ackman said the escalating trade conflict is already having chilling effects on decision-making at the highest levels of business.



“What CEO and what board of directors will be comfortable making large, long-term economic commitments in our country in the middle of an economic nuclear war?”

He added that the fallout will hit small businesses and low-income Americans the hardest.

“Almost no business can pass through an overnight massive increase in costs to their customers,” Ackman said. “This is not what we voted for.”
Trump, meanwhile, has continued to defend the tariffs as a tough negotiation tactic—and suggested they may be here to stay. On Sunday, he told reporters aboard Air Force One that foreign governments will have to pay “a lot of money” to remove the levies, which he called “medicine.”
Markets responded with alarm on Monday, as global indexes continued to slide on fears of an all-out trade war.