In an interview with CNBC, hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin bets that Donald Trump would win if the 2024 election were held today.
“Right here? Right now? The election is tomorrow? He wins it,” quipped Griffin.
Griffin added, “For investors, overall, a Trump administration is good for our capital markets.”
The billionaire remarked that he had a “fantastic working relationship” with Trump when he was in office.
“He listened. He cared deeply about the American people, and he’s very different in a small room with a small number of people,” described the Citadel CEO of Trump.
Griffin gives credit to Trump and says that the media personified him differently. “It’s actually quite touching, to be blunt.”
The Citadel founder’s remarks signify a shift of tide, as he was deeply critical of Trump previously.
In November 2022, he called Trump a “three-time loser,” hoping that the Republicans were “ready to move on” from him.
The hedge fund businessman even contributed $5 million to Trump’s primary rival, Nikki Haley, touting her as a “rockstar.”
But the billionaire seems to have mellowed down on his criticisms while sharing on CNBC that he is looking forward to “seeing what his policy platform looks like.”
While Griffin is still pondering whether he’d endorse Trump, GOP billionaire financiers Liz Uihlein and her husband Dick Uihlein said that they will bankroll Trump’s campaign.
The Uihleins were Ron DeSantis’ biggest donors, but the Florida Governor dropped early into the race.
“We back Trump,” Liz Uihlein, the president of the packing supply giant Uline, told the Financial Times.
“I think Trump can win.”
She added that the litany of criminal charges and legal threats against the former president had “enormously” helped him win Republican support in the party’s primary. “The American people see through things,” she said. “It’s so trumped up.”
The billionaire donor’s remark came after Trump dominated the Super Tuesday primaries, which devastated his lone rival, Nikki Haley.
The couple was the first to announce their return to Trump’s ring as the Republican nominee tries to match Biden’s campaign machinery while battling out his legal woes.
The Uihleins each gave $1.5 million to DeSantis’s failed presidential bid. Liz, during an interview with the Financial Times, remarked that they intend to give Trump a similar amount.
The billionaire packing supply magnate previously supported the former president in the two previous presidential competitions before trying to seek an alternative candidate for the 2024 race.
Meanwhile, Nikki Haley’s top financiers are now weighing whether to run back to Trump or contribute to ensure Republicans win the Senate and protect the Party’s majority in the House of Representatives.
