Andy Beal, the wealthiest banker in the U.S., is countering the advice President Donald Trump is getting from others in the billionaire class, saying he should stay the course with his “shock and awe” tariff policies.
Beal offered his advice Tuesday, before Trump’s Wednesday announcement that he was putting a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, while keeping in place a baseline 10 percent tariff as new trade deals are negotiated.
Beal, founder of Dallas-based Beal Bank, argued that the president’s endgame of reshuffling the world trade deck is worth enduring some short-term economic turbulence.
“Our huge and perpetual balance of trade deficit and our continual multitrillion-dollar fiscal deficit are simply not sustainable, and the sooner we deal with them the better and the less long-term pain,” Beal told Market Watch. “A dollar of government borrowing and spending is not the same as a dollar earned by inventing or building a widget.”
The U.S. trade deficit (imports over exports) last year was over $918 billion, up from approximately $785 billion in 2023.
The federal government’s deficit was $1.8 trillion in fiscal year 2024, up from $1.7 trillion in 2023. The interest payments on the debt alone last year were $881 billion, more than the entire Defense Department’s budget.
The massive amount of borrowing and spending distorted the U.S. economy, putting it on unstable ground, Beal contended.
He also specifically singled out venture capitalist and political activist Bill Ackman (who endorsed and supported Trump’s candidacy in 2024) for advising the president to reverse course on tariffs.
Do you support Trump’s tariff strategy?
“Bill Ackman is wrong. We don’t need another moratorium for 90 days,” Beal said. “The opportunity is now. Don’t let this opportunity pass. We have been living in a fantasy world for decades.”
In a Sunday post on social media platform X, Ackman wrote, “The country is 100% behind the president on fixing a global system of tariffs that has disadvantaged the country. But, business is a confidence game and confidence depends on trust.”
There are always differing opinions:
– Billionaire banker Andy Beal thinks that Trump should continue the “shock and awe” tariff policies.
– Bill Ackman, hedge-fund billionaire, argues that Trump should consider a time-out. https://t.co/QPDXWszLNQhttps://t.co/WSzlZwcraj pic.twitter.com/Ig0ZQNVQM4
— 1000Words (@FactualGraphics) April 8, 2025
He went on to argue that Trump was ruining that trust among our friends overseas by imposing high tariffs.
“The president has an opportunity to call a 90-day time out, negotiate and resolve unfair asymmetric tariff deals, and induce trillions of dollars of new investment in our country,” Ackman wrote.
Otherwise, he forecasted “a self-induced, economic nuclear winter.”
The country is 100% behind the president on fixing a global system of tariffs that has disadvantaged the country. But, business is a confidence game and confidence depends on trust.
President @realDonaldTrump has elevated the tariff issue to the most important geopolitical…
— Bill Ackman (@BillAckman) April 6, 2025
Similarly, J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon advocated on Fox Business Wednesday morning, “If you want to calm down the markets, show progress in those things [of negotiating trade deals], and let [Treasury Secretary] Scott [Bessent] take the time.”
“Trade deals are very large and very complex. They can’t be done overnight. But you really have to have teams working on them to get them right,” he added.
“Let them [the markets] settle down, take a deep breath, [and] negotiate some trade deals. That’s the best thing they [the administration] can do,” Dimon said.
JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon talks tariffs, the future of U.S. trade and competition, earnings expectations, recession likelihood and more in an exclusive interview on @MorningsMaria. pic.twitter.com/7XNOqi1gKT
— Fox News (@FoxNews) April 9, 2025
The stock market had seen massive declines after Trump announced his new tariff regime last week, but rebounded in a big way Wednesday with the announcement of a 90-day pause in the higher reciprocal tariffs.
Trump appeared to split the difference between those in Beal’s camp and those in Ackman’s by keeping the 10 percent baseline tariff in place while pausing the higher reciprocal tariffs for 90 days.
The president acknowledged during a White House event on Wednesday afternoon that the reason he put the pause in place was because people were “getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid.”
During White House event with auto racing champs, Pres. Trump tells reporters he decided to pause some of his tariffs because he “thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line.”
“They were getting yippy … a little bit afraid.” https://t.co/syx6lGlU1c pic.twitter.com/9YIGoMlyJB
— ABC News (@ABC) April 9, 2025
“We have a big job to do,” he continued in negotiating new trade deals. “No other president would have done what I did … but somebody had to do it … because it was not sustainable.”
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