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If Donald Trump thought billionaires would bankroll his economic revolution without blinking, Ken Langone didn’t get the memo.
The Home Depot co-founder and longtime Republican megadonor unleashed a tirade this week over the Trump administration’s new trade strategy, describing the president’s latest round of tariffs as “bullst,” “too aggressive,” and fueled by what he sees as economic voodoo wrapped in red, white, and blue.
“Forty-six percent on Vietnam? Come on!” Langone said. “You might as well tell them, ‘Don’t even bother calling.’”
Langone, a veteran of Wall Street who made his fortune building one of the country’s largest retail empires, has long supported conservative causes — including Trump’s 2016 campaign. But this time, he’s not mincing words. In fact, he’s flinging them like wrenches at a busted ledger.
“I don’t understand the goddamn formula,” he fumed in a phone interview. “I believe he’s been poorly advised about this trade situation — and the formula they’re applying. It doesn’t make sense.”
Langone isn’t alone.
A growing chorus of Republican-aligned business moguls — including Stanley Druckenmiller, Bill Ackman, and even Elon Musk — are voicing alarm at Trump’s all-in approach to tariffs, which they say is jeopardizing international relationships, rattling markets, and flipping the economy into a guessing game.
“I do not support tariffs exceeding 10%,” Druckenmiller posted on X. He should know — he’s been a mentor to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the very man tasked with selling the White House’s plan to the business community.
But selling this strategy may be like peddling fire insurance after the house catches flames.
Under Trump’s latest directive, the administration has rolled out a baseline 10% tariff across all imports, with additional charges stacked on top for countries with high trade deficits. China has been slapped with 34%.
Vietnam with 46%. Even longtime U.S. allies like Germany and South Korea are feeling the sting.
And that sting? It’s making billionaires cry foul.
What set off Langone — and much of Wall Street — wasn’t just the size of the tariffs. It was how they were calculated.
According to multiple administration sources, the formula behind the new rates is deceptively simple: take the U.S. trade deficit with a country, divide it by the total value of imports from that country, and use the result as the tariff rate.
Langone was floored. “That’s not how trade works. That’s not how math works. Hell, that’s not even how logic works.”
He wasn’t the only one confused.
“My first question was: How did they calculate these numbers?” said one senior executive at a major investment firm. “Then I saw the formula and realized... they didn’t. They just divided two big numbers and called it economics.”
The backlash has reportedly reached Trump’s inner circle.
Sources close to Elon Musk say the Tesla CEO personally appealed to Trump to reconsider — not just because of the cost to his business, but because of the messaging nightmare it creates for America’s place in the global economy.
“He tried to talk him down, but it didn’t work,” said one insider. “The president thinks tariffs are like poker chips — the more he stacks, the stronger his hand.”
Trump, for his part, is doubling down.
At a recent NRCC fundraising dinner, the president dismissed criticism from billionaires, economists, and foreign leaders alike.
“Countries are calling up, kissing my ass, begging for deals,” he said. “This is the largest trade reset in American history. It’s going to be legendary.”
Wall Street? Not convinced.
As Trump takes his tariff tour on the road, markets are not clapping along. The Dow Jones has seen multiple record drops in recent weeks. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite have sunk to their lowest levels in over a year.
And behind closed doors, the very donors who once funded Trump’s rise are hitting the panic button.
“He’s talking like a street fighter with a spreadsheet,” Langone said. “This isn’t how you run a country. This is how you start a panic.”
Langone added that while he supports stronger trade enforcement, the administration’s current posture is “like blowing up a bridge and then yelling at the river.”
For the Republican Party, the rebellion of megadonors is both a crisis and an identity test.
Since Trump’s rise, the GOP has drifted away from Chamber of Commerce orthodoxy toward economic populism, even if that means alienating legacy donors.
Langone’s outburst reveals the tension between Trump’s base and his backers — and how far apart they may now be.
“I gave because I believed in conservative principles,” Langone said. “Free markets. Lower taxes. Not wild-eyed trade chaos built on voodoo math.”
Still, many donors remain quiet, unwilling to publicly challenge Trump for fear of political fallout.
But Langone? He’s 88, wealthy beyond worry, and clearly not interested in keeping silent.
“What are they going to do — cancel me? I helped build Home Depot. I’ll be fine. But the country? Not if we keep this up.”
Even the economists Trump claims to cite are turning on him.
Brett Neiman, a University of Chicago professor, wrote a blistering editorial after discovering that a White House tariff briefing cited his work — incorrectly.
“They got it wrong. Very wrong,” Neiman wrote. “They took a paper about optimal trade policy and twisted it into a blunt justification for arbitrary math.”
He wasn’t alone. Three of the four economists whose work was referenced in the USTR’s announcement have since issued public clarifications, all essentially saying: “That’s not what we meant at all.”
With global markets on edge, allies unsure, and tariffs already sending ripples through the supply chain, the administration insists this is just the beginning of a bigger negotiation.
But critics say the strategy feels more like a hostage situation than a trade strategy.
“He thinks he’s bluffing, but what if no one folds?” Langone said. “Then what? You’ve already pushed the button. Now we all have to deal with the fallout.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt waved off Langone’s remarks, calling them “one man’s opinion.”
“President Trump is delivering results. The American people voted for strength — and they’re getting it.”
Back in Manhattan, Langone laughed when told about her comment.
“Results? We’re getting kicked in the teeth on the markets, our allies are pissed, and no one can explain the math. Yeah, great results.”
He paused.
“You know what this is? This is a damn mess dressed up as a miracle.”
