Citadel CEO Ken Griffin stated that while there is “no doubt” that President Donald Trump inherited an economy grappling with inflation, some of his own policies have been inflationary.
Griffin Says Deregulation Could Reduce Inflation
Griffin, while speaking to Bloomberg’s Dani Burger at the Conference de Paris on Tuesday, said that the foremost cause of ” sticky” inflation in the current times is Trump’s tariff policies as well as his illegal immigration crackdown, which he said was “curtailing” the labor market.
The GOP mega donor also stated that the Democrats have “rebranded” the inflation cause on which Trump ran and won the 2024 election, as an “affordability” issue.
Griffin stated that the president and the Republicans are “getting the message” about these brewing concerns and struggling to find fixes for these issues. The Citadel CEO, however, is not sure if the Supreme Court can strike down Trump’s tariffs.
That being said, Griffin agreed that some of Trump’s policies, like deregulation, which could unleash “productivity gains” and give inflation a very “healthy” reduction, would take longer to play out.
Trump-Griffin’s Clash Over Fed
Previously, Griffin has warned that Trump’s public pressure on the Federal Reserve risks undermining its independence and harming U.S. economic credibility, potentially leading to higher inflation and interest rates. Trump dismissed the criticism, saying he prioritizes addressing what he sees as incompetence over protecting the Fed’s independence.
In a recent interview, Trump expressed uncertainty about whether his economic policies would sway voters in the 2026 midterms, due to the delayed effect of the impact, adding further complexity to the GOP’s economic strategy. However, ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood previously said AI-driven productivity gains could drive U.S. inflation to zero or below while boosting real GDP growth to 5%–7% annually in the coming years.
Notably, as per economic data, the U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $52.8 billion in September, the smallest since June 2020, improving sharply from August and coming in well below expectations. U.S. job openings rose to a five-month high in October, led by healthcare and retail, but slower hiring signaled a cooling labor market. At the same time, for September, Core PCE, the inflation metric tracked by the Fed, cooled from 2.9% to 2.8%, just below the 2.9% expectations.
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