Billionaire businessman George Soros made a cutting assessment of what is to come under Donald Trump’s presidency, in a speech given at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.
Soros said global markets were likely to weaken as Trump’s economic policy gets underway, adding that “uncertainty is at its peak”.
The dollar rose ahead of Trump’s inauguration speech on Friday as investors looked for clarity on his economic policy. It has since fallen over the weekend and in Asian trading on Monday after the President took a protectionist stance.
Soros told Bloomberg News at an annual media dinner at the event in Switzerland: “I don’t think the markets are going to do very well.”
“Markets see Trump dismantling regulations and reducing taxes, and that has been the dream. The dream has come true.”
Soros, who was a strong supporter of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton throughout the election campaign, has openly disagreed with Trump’s vows to take the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal. On that subject, the 86-year-old called Trump an “imposter and con-man” who was “gearing up for a trade war”.
He added: “His ideas that guide him are inherently self-contradictory and the contradictions are actually already embodied by his advisers … and his cabinet.”
At the dinner he also turned his comments to British Prime Minister Theresa May, saying it was unlikely that Prime Minister Theresa May will “remain in power” given the differences of opinion in her government.
He labelled Brexit a “a bitter divorce” which will hurt both sides:
“At the moment the people in the UK are in denial. The current economic situation is not as bad as was predicted and they live in hope. But as the currency depreciates, and inflation will be the driving force, this will lead to declining living standards.”
The pound is currently trading up 0.52 percent against the dollar, and 0.36 percent against the euro (0931GMT).