'So much damage': British billionaire hammers Trump as 'very difficult for business'

23 April

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

One prominent European business leader recently issued a scathing critique of President Donald Trump and his economic agenda as the 100th day of his second term approaches.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Richard Branson — the billionaire founder of Virgin Atlantic — has been vocal in his opposition to Trump's trade policies and his overall handling of the economy since his return to the White House. Branson called Trump's sweeping tariffs "erratic," and worried that they were "doing so much damage around the world."

"The unpredictability is just awful for everybody around the world,” Branson said. “It’s just erratic, unpredictable, which is very, very difficult for business to deal with.”

"An unsettled world is not good for anybody," he continued. "People delay decisions on investment and spending."

Branson's remarks are a sharp contrast to the friendlier attitude other top CEOs have had toward the Trump administration, like Meta's Jeff Zuckerberg, Amazon's Jeff Bezos and Tesla and SpaceX's Elon Musk, among many others. Though a March gathering of CEOs at Yale University was also reportedly cold to Trump — especially regarding his approach to international trade.

Financial markets have been on a rollercoaster for most of April, following Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs he imposed on most of the world. Following the immense shock to the S&P 500 Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Trump promised to postpone most of the tariffs for 90 days, though he ratcheted up trade duties on Chinese imports. Branson said that the latest round of tariffs had "financially done a lot of harm" and reminded reporters that markets were "on the verge of a complete meltdown two weeks ago." He also opined that the tariffs were primarily favored by those in Trump's inner circle while reviled by the American public.

“I don’t think he’s carrying the vast majority of Americans in what he’s doing,” Branson said. “Most American people are decent individuals. I’m just sad, incredibly sad. And many, many, many Americans I know are just very sad.”

Click here to read the Times' full article (subscription required).

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