Citadel's Ken Griffin Praises Fed Chief For Dodging 'Dirty Word,' Slams Trump Tariffs As 'Sales Tax' On Hardworking Americans

Hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin weighed in on the Federal Reserve's decision to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday while intensifying his criticism of President Donald Trump's tariff policies.

The Citadel CEO, a prominent Republican donor, went on CNBC's "Closing Bell" program Wednesday on the sidelines of the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles.

Griffin focused on Jerome Powell's speech, in which the Fed Chair said the current environment "presents risk to higher inflation and higher unemployment."

"The word that evokes is stagflation; it's a dirty word. And I give him credit for not using that word because it's such a dangerous word," Griffin said.

"But Jay Powell is doing his best to keep all of his options open to make sure we can try to maintain maximum employment in the United States while mitigating the risk of an acceleration in inflation."

Griffin acknowledged the modest risk of stagflation but stressed the need for a thoughtful approach to trade negotiations to ensure a fair deal for American businesses and workers.

"It's going to come down to how high tariffs will be in the end and how deep the tax cuts will be in the end. And bluntly, how much can we deregulate the economy? All three of these are really big, unknown wildcards at this point in time," he said.

Griffin called inflation the "primary scorecard" U.S. voters will consider ahead of the 2026 midterm election and suggested that Trump focus on the issue "front and center."

While agreeing that Trump was "spot on" about American businesses and workers getting "the short end of the stick" in global trade, Griffin said he would have personally "picked a different path" from reciprocal tariffs.

"Tariffs hit the pocketbook of hardworking Americans the hardest," he said. "It's like a sales tax for the American people. It's gonna hit those who are working the hardest to make ends meet. That's my big issue."

"It's such a painfully regressive tax."

The latest comments come weeks after Griffin issued a stark warning about the long-term consequences of Trump's trade policies. He argued that the president's reciprocal tariff blitz was eroding the United States' global reputation and financial credibility. 

U.S. stock markets, which roared following Trump's election win in November, have struggled to maintain momentum this year. 

The benchmark S&P 500 has lost over 4% in 2025, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite has fared worse with more than 8% losses. 

Major ETFs tracking these indexes — Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) and SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) — are all down more than 4% this year.

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