Billionaire who supports Trump: America is a brand, now we have jeopardized it with tariffs

Kenneth Griffin, a supporter of US President Donald Trump and megadonor to Republican candidates, directed some extremely harsh words at the 78-year-old.

It seems that due to the trade war and the loss of wealth, friends are starting to lose patience with the American leader.

"The United States was more than just a nation. It was a brand. A universal brand, whether it was our culture, our financial power, our military power... America had risen beyond being just a country... and now we are damaging that brand," he said at an economic summit in Washington.

The founder of one of the world's largest investment funds warned that traders are worried about their investments in the United States - especially investments in government bonds - because the tariffs imposed by Trump have destroyed confidence that America will remain a reliable and rational actor in global financial markets.

“If you think about how you behave as a consumer, how many times do you buy a product with a well-known brand because you trust that brand? In the financial markets, no brand can compare to the brand of US government bonds – the strength of the US dollar and the credit strength of US bonds. No brand comes close to that. And we have put that brand at risk,” he stressed, writing cnn.

U.S. government bonds have traditionally been the safest haven for investors. When times get tough, investors typically rely on the perceived safety of bonds to “park” their investments while riskier and more volatile stocks fall.

However, that has not happened in recent months. As Trump's trade war escalated, investors began to fear that the United States could seriously damage the global economy — but even worse, its own economy and perhaps irreparably damage its reputation.

The billionaire compared the American brand to a masterfully crafted handbag or a trusted car manufacturer, "but if the companies that produce these brands face a public scandal, the damage to their reputation can be almost impossible to repair."

"You know, you can buy a similar no-name dress for less money, but you want a dress that you're confident won't fall apart in two weeks. It can take a very long time – a very long time – to clean a stain from a brand," he continued.

The billionaire stressed that Trump and his advisers have a lot of work to do to remedy the negative consequences of the trade war.

"The president, the treasury secretary, and the commerce secretary need to be very careful and aware that when you have a brand, you need to behave in a way that respects and strengthens that brand. Because when you tarnish a brand like that, repairing the damage that's done can take a lifetime," he concluded. /Telegraph/