Langone criticized Trump’s tariffs as “poorly advised” and “bulls**t,” but last month spoke in support of the president and his policies.
U.S. President Donald Trump has seemingly made peace with Home Depot (HD) co-founder and billionaire Ken Langone, after the latter reversed his critical stance of the U.S. President and his policies.
“Thank you Ken. Very nice!” Trump posted on his Truth Social account Wednesday, along with an excerpt of a video interview showing Langone making favourable remarks about the president.
Eighty-nine-year-old Langone, a long-time Republican donor, had lambasted Trump’s tariffs as “poorly advised” and “bullshit” back in April. He was especially outspoken about the tariffs on China and Vietnam, both of which are major exporters to U.S. companies across multiple industries, including Home Depot.
In the July interview with CNBC, which Trump reshared, Langone said, “I am sold on Trump.”
“In fact, I’ll say this. I think he’s got a good shot at going down in history as one of our best presidents.” He praised Trump’s strike on Iran and said the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” will trigger significant economic growth. Backing Trump’s policies for the citizens in general, Langone said, “People are walking with more bounce, and it’s all around.”
Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, first announced on April 2 and later revised with multiple deadline extensions, have generated $152 billion through July — about double the $78 billion collected in the same period last fiscal year, according to The New York Times, which cited Treasury Department data.
Some analysts, however, have pointed out that Trump’s trade war is causing more harm to American consumers than to the country’s trading partners. The Federal Reserve, too, remains hawkish about the fallout from this policy, causing considerable friction between Trump and its chair, Jerome Powell.
The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which track the benchmark Nasdaq and S&P 500 indices, have remained relatively resilient to the tariff blitz, gaining about 7% this year. These gains, however, have primarily resulted from the upbeat earnings and outlooks of Big Tech companies, which are capitalizing on the AI boom. As a result, retail sentiment, as per Stocktwits, remains in a cautious-to-bearish zone.
In recent months, Trump has been particularly vocal about the people he likes and dislikes. He recently posted in support of actress Sydney Sweeney, whom he had recently learned is a registered Republican voter, while going on the offensive against TV anchors known to be critical of him, such as Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, and, just this week, Gayle King.
Langone’s support has flip-flopped. He backed Trump during the 2016 presidential race but later said he felt “betrayed” following the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, telling CNBC in 2021 that he planned to support Joe Biden.
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