Sir Richard Branson: Vast majority of Americans don't back Trump
The Virgin Group founder said the consequences of the US president's interventions in areas such as global trade, the war in Ukraine and climate change were 'awful for everyone' – US citizens included.
He said: 'I honestly think this is a fairly small elite of people around Trump. I don't think he is carrying the vast majority of Americans in what he is doing.
'Most American people are decent individuals. I'm just sad, incredibly sad. And many, many, many Americans I know are just very sad.'
Sir Richard said Mr Trump risked turning the US into a pariah state if he persists with his tariff policies, isolated in the world and frozen out of global trading relationships.
He said: 'You can see a world where Europe, Australia, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, China, all trade together and build a powerhouse in years to come.
'There is a big market out there, which you could find America gets excluded from – a lot of imports and exports.'
He said that would 'definitely have happened' had Mr Trump not rowed back from the immediate imposition of crippling tariffs across the board.
The entrepreneur, who spoke during a visit to Saudi Arabia to mark the start of Virgin Atlantic flights to Riyadh, said Mr Trump's 'erratic and unpredictable' policies were 'very difficult for business to deal with,' especially when many sectors had been geared up for growth.
He said: 'It's just such a pity because everything was going so bloody well up to about three months ago.
'If you take Virgin – our cruise ships were booming, our airlines were booming, our health clubs were full. They are still OK, but you just sort of feel, urgh! If he continues he's in such danger of doing so much damage in the world.'
Sir Richard predicted that Mr Trump would come under pressure at home as his tariffs start to push up prices for imported goods, and predicted that Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve chief, will resist pressure to cut interest rates.
He said: 'Inflation hasn't started kicking in in America. It will do once these tariffs start kicking in. Powell, if he reduces interest rates, inflation will get even worse, so it's unlikely that he is going to do what Trump wishes there.'
Sir Richard said that while the tariffs 'have obviously done a lot of harm', Virgin Group businesses will ultimately 'muddle through'. He added that he was ultimately more concerned about Mr Trump's withdrawal of support for Ukraine and Volodymyr Zelensky than his tariff policy.
He said: 'Ukraine is the thing that I think should worry the world the most. America and Britain had pledged to protect the integrity of Ukraine and now America also seems to have jumped sides.
'Is he going to abide by the treaty America signed in 1994 and continue to support Ukraine? If not, the whole of Europe has got to get onto a war footing and ramp up weapons supplies like we haven't done since the Second World War.'
Sir Richard said he has spoken with his friend and fellow space pioneer Elon Musk on a few occasions since Trump came to power, with conversations focused mostly on Ukraine. He declined to comment on Mr Musk's role in the Trump administration.
Shai Weiss, the chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, said demand for US flights to the UK had recently been weak, in a sign that Americans are putting off spending amid economic uncertainty.
However, he said that other consequences of Mr Trump's trade war, particularly the weak dollar, were spurring bookings from Britons eager to visit the US to take advantage of their increased purchasing power.
He said: 'The flip side is that the UK can be a beneficiary of this. The pound is stronger, and we are transitioning to a period where bookings are coming more from the UK than the US.'
Britons are showing no sign of avoiding the US because of Trump's policies, Mr Weiss said.'We haven't seen the dramatic shift like we have for Canada to the US, and we don't expect to see it.
'There have been no statements that Britain should be the 52nd state. People are still going to fly on leisure to Disney.'
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