CNBC Anchor Says Business Titans Tell Him They Are ‘Scared of the Chaos That Trump Will Create’

CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin popped by MSNBC to join Wednesday’s edition of The Beat, where he revealed that his Wall Street contacts are worried about the “chaos” Donald Trump would bring with him in a second term.

The former president has repeatedly said he will impose tariffs on imports and has bizarrely claimed he will use that money to fund domestic initiatives such as childcare. But that’s not how tariffs work, as they are paid by the U.S. businesses importing the goods. Those extra costs are then passed on to consumers, which Sorkin noted is effectively a tax.

“Look, tariffs across the board should be labeled taxes,” he told host Ari Melber. “That’s what they are. It just means that everything is going to cost more. Can you do tariffs strategically? Yes, it is possible. There are going to be industries, foreign industries that are subsidized by other governments where you don’t want those governments and those companies dumping their products at prices that make no sense and are completely irrational on our people.”

Sorkin called Trump’s plan “not strategic” and said perhaps the ex-president is using his tariff talk as a “ploy.”

“He thinks of himself as one of the great negotiators,” he went on. “And maybe it’ll turn out to be that. But I think up until we actually see the proof of that, this is a massive tax.”

“What do your Wall Street sources say?” Melber asked.

Sorkin replied that while his business contacts are “pleased” with some of what Trump has said, they have deep concerns.

“They are scared of the chaos that Trump will create,” he said. “They’re scared of waking up in the morning and looking at X/formerly Twitter and seeing either their company or their name in it and what that means. And the sort of jerking around from side to side of where– I mean, just yesterday, Trump is out there saying he’s going to add a 200% tariff on John Deere, on Deere tractors. Think about that for a second. And by the way, how strategic is that? What about all the farmers in America that buy the tractors? That’s a massive tax on them. That’s what it is.”

Watch above via MSNBC.

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