Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman urged world leaders to ‘immediately negotiate’ with US President Donald Trump following amid growing fears of a global recession. The POTUS announced sweeping ‘reciprocal tariffs’ against nearly all imports from over 180 nations this week — sending stock markets into a tailspin.
“I expect Trump will reward the early dealmakers with fairer deals than those that wait to sit down at the negotiating table. Countries that respond with additional tariffs on our goods will be severely punished. The carrot and the stick writ large, Big Boy style…Just pick up the phone. Call the President, and make a deal,” he wrote on X.
The founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management also said that the President was ‘at his core a dealmaker who sees the world as a series of transactions”. He also lauded Trump as a “tough but fair negotiator” who loved to get things done ‘promptly’.
Ackman also suggested that companies operating within a country that refused to negotiate could approach the Trump administration directly.
“The President could exempt a particular company’s products from tariffs if they committed to invest X dollars in the U.S., open new factories in the US etc. Major global companies are not going to allow their political leaders — who may be motivated by short-term political considerations — to harm their businesses by refusing to negotiate with Trump, or worse by retaliating. As more major companies in a country make their own deals, the rest of the companies in that country will be left behind, which will motivate the leadership to negotiate a deal,” he opined.
The remarks came even as the stock markets roiled amid growing concerns about a global recession. World shares slid downward, US futures fell and Wall Street appeared on track for a second day of crushing losses on Friday. Meanwhile Wall Street brokerage JP Morgan increased the risk of a global recession to 60% this week — up from its 40% projection last week. The market upheaval intensified on Friday afternoon as China retaliated with an extra 34% tax on US goods.