Investor and entrepreneur Kevin O'Leary backed Donald Trump's aggressive new tariffs, saying markets care about policy—not political noise—and that capital is still flowing into the U.S. economy.
O'Leary Focuses On Policy, Not Politics
In a post on X on Friday, O'Leary, also known as "Mr Wonderful," said investors should ignore the drama and follow the money.
"Money follows the path of least resistance and it looks like right now, the bet remains on America," he wrote. "Even with all this volatility, all the politics, it’s the policy that matters. That is what determines where capital flows, not politicians, not the noise around political rhetoric."
"I'm an investor. I don't listen to all the noise. I listen to the policy, and I watch the money," O'Leary added. "And the money is coming to the U.S. economy because of the policy, and it looks pretty good right now."
Markets Unfazed By Trump's Tariff Blitz
O'Leary's comments come after President Trump unveiled sweeping new tariffs on Thursday, including raising tariffs on Canadian goods from 25% to 35% and adding new duties on dozens of countries such as Vietnam, Taiwan and Switzerland.
Despite the broad scale of the tariff announcement, the market response was muted. S&P 500 futures dipped only slightly.
Analysts say the lack of market reaction may reflect growing skepticism about Trump following through, a phenomenon referred to online as the "TACO Trade" or "Trump Always Chickens Out."
Economist Peter Schiff described the situation as a "classic paradox" because investors don't believe Trump will follow through on his tariff threats and markets aren't reacting. However, this lack of market panic may actually prompt Trump to implement the tariffs, as there’s no pressure deterring him.
Trump's Tariffs Called De Facto VAT By O'Leary
On the "Impact Theory" podcast this week, O'Leary compared Trump's tariffs to a de facto value-added tax (VAT), used in many countries.
"There’s no American VAT tax. However, what Trump has done is exactly that, and he’s called it something else," O'Leary said. "Who cares what it’s called? It’s a tax."
He added that if the tariffs stay in the 10%–15% range, "the economies can live with" it, calling the numbers "reasonable."
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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