Citadel's Ken Griffin Calls Trump's Tariffs on Allies 'a Disaster,' Predicts GOP Loses a Chamber

Ken Griffin says he has been supporting a number of Republican candidates this election cycle. On Tuesday, Oct. 20, he said his party is heading for trouble in the midterms and that President Donald Trump's trade fights are part of the reason.

Speaking to Bloomberg's Dani Burger at the Future of Global Markets Conference in New York, the Citadel CEO called the tariff battles with Canada, Europe and other allies "just a disaster."

"I talked about this when he first started this in his presidency," Griffin said. "To be blunt, I hate to say it, but I've been right."

Tariffs, prices and the midterm math

Griffin said the tariffs have been "pro-inflation" and have "taken supply chains around the world and severed them."

The trade disputes with Canada and the EU remain unresolved. Trump announced an additional 50% tariff on certain Canadian imports on July 20. He said Canada discriminates against American auto, alcohol and dairy exports. Those duties took effect in August.

U.S. consumer prices rose 3.7% in September from a year earlier. Business Insider reported that inflation has erased nearly all of the average worker's hourly wage gains since Trump returned to office. Fuel affordability and the lack of housing supply have become pain points for Republicans heading into the midterms.

Griffin predicted Republicans would almost certainly lose control of at least one chamber of Congress. "The House almost is in a really tough spot and the Senate's going to be really close," he said. He described the midterms as a check on the party in power.

Taxes, Iran and immigration

Tariffs were not his only complaint. According to Bloomberg, Griffin said Republicans in Congress and Trump made a mistake by cutting taxes even further last year.

"We didn't have the fiscal space to renew the tax cuts," he said. "Republicans have their hands dirty over the tax cuts the last two years."

On Iran, Griffin said the war is unpopular and the president has not explained it well. "The war in Iran is very unpopular. I think he's done a very poor job of explaining why," he said. "I think the president has not made that case in a powerful, meaningful way to the American people."

On immigration, he called the administration's treatment of immigrants "disgraceful." He also said he believes in securing the border.

Griffin's proposal for those already in the country is specific: "If you are here with your family or by yourself and you are gainfully employed and you are working to find a better life for your family, there needs to be a way to stay in our country."

The administration's side of the argument

Griffin's view is not the only one in the conservative movement. Rod D. Martin, author of "Trump's New World Re-Order," explains America First not as a retreat from international affairs but as a healthy ordering of priorities.

Martin says the U.S. has "fostered a climate of dependence among our allies that is not beneficial to them." He says the goal is not to pull back from helping allies but for them "to actually be able to help themselves."

Trump himself has cited what he described as discrimination against American auto, alcohol and dairy exports as the reason for the Canadian tariffs. Griffin's argument is that the economic cost of that approach is higher than the benefit.

The campaign trail

Republicans are not conceding anything. Kellyanne Conway said Sunday on "Fox News Sunday" that "participation in a poll is not the same as participation at the polls." She argued some Republicans are reluctant to answer surveys and said competitive Senate races remain "on a razor's edge."

Democratic pollster Celinda Lake, on the same program, said Democrats lead on enthusiasm but urged voters against letting favorable polling keep them home. She said her party has had "insufficient investment, particularly in youth turnout."

Trump told farmers they will soon get relief from the cost of diesel during a rally near Wichita, Kansas, on Monday evening, CBS News reported, according to Breitbart.

Griffin's forecast is one businessman's read, not a poll. He did not name any specific race in the reporting available.

Until the midterms, the tariffs on Canadian imports that took effect in August remain in place, and the Canada and EU trade disputes remain unresolved.