Billionaire Trump backer Bill Ackman was relentlessly mocked on X after suggesting that President Donald Trump’s trade policy reversal was “brilliantly executed.”
Trump backed down from most of his “Liberation Day” tariffs on Wednesday, issuing a 90-day pause while ratcheting up the levies on China to 125 percent.
The change comes after several days of market meltdowns and fears about inflation and a possible recession before the stock market skyrocketed after the news of Trump’s turnaround.
The president said he would keep a 10 percent baseline tariff for all countries, and with the rising tariffs on China, Trump’s second term is still growing more protectionist.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that it was all a “successful negotiating strategy … No one creates leverage for himself like President Trump.”
“Many of you in the media clearly missed The Art of the Deal,” said White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, even though the U.S. has yet to come to a deal with any other country. Leavitt insisted the previous day that the tariffs would not be delayed.
“Scott Bessent and I sat with the President while he wrote one of the most extraordinary ... posts of his Presidency. The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote on X as he shared Trump’s Truth Social message announcing the pause.
Then there was Ackman, who said, “This was brilliantly executed by @realDonaldTrump. Textbook, Art of the Deal.”
The post racked up millions of views on X and was quickly the subject of mockery.
“Is this a joke or are you being serious? I am actually asking because I can't tell,” Isaac Saul asked.
“Why was this brilliant? Someone explain,” one user added.
“WH goes hard on tariffs, China absolutely dumps US Treasuries so hard that the 10Y goes to 4.5% in retaliation, knowing it would undermine the WH goal of lowering rates. And then the White House capitulates to avoid further spiking of rates and having the basis trade blowing up and causing contagion,” Jeff Schultz wrote in response on X.
“Quite possible they knew all along how this would play out, but it sure didn't look like anyone knew or understood the playbook here,” he added.
“Bill, thanks for the bottom call again, and thanks for playing your part. Your whining is always appreciated,” another user mocked.
“For me, one of the main benefits of making some money is not having to wear a gimp suit for anybody. To each his own,” Clifford Asness noted.
MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell noted simply: “There’s no deal. Trump caved before making a single deal with a single country.”
But Ackman didn’t back down.
“The benefit of @realDonaldTrump’s approach is that we now understand who are our preferred trading partners, and who the problems are. China has shown themselves to be a bad actor,” he posted. “Our counterparties also have a taste of what life is like if they don’t take down their trade barriers. This is the perfect setup for trade negotiations over the next 90 days.”
“There are literally no benefits to Trump’s approach, and if you think there are you have lost it,” Ian Gardner responded.
“Pigeons have better pattern recognition than you do, Bill,” Jimmy Rushton added.
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