As former President Donald Trump accelerates his campaign to return to the White House, his recent unveiling of a sweeping new tariff plan has sparked deep concern on Wall Street — and in some corners, whispers of something more alarming. Behind closed doors, a small but growing number of fund managers and financial strategists are voicing fears that Trump’s erratic economic policies, especially the proposed 10% universal tariff, may reflect something beyond political bravado: a potential break from rational policymaking.
“Publicly, no one will say it,” said a senior hedge fund executive who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “But in private meetings, there’s a real conversation happening about whether he even understands the consequences of what he’s proposing — or worse, whether he’s mentally fit to lead a global economy.”
Trump’s plan, unveiled at a recent rally and reiterated during interviews, proposes a blanket 10% tariff on all imports and an even steeper 60% levy on goods from China. The former president claims the tariffs would bring back manufacturing jobs, protect American industries, and generate billions in revenue. Economists — both liberal and conservative — have largely panned the proposal, warning it would ignite trade wars, drive up consumer prices, and destabilize global supply chains.
“This isn’t just bad economics — it’s reckless,” said one investment strategist at a major asset management firm. “We’re used to Trump being unpredictable, but this tariff proposal is self-defeating in ways that make you question whether he’s getting sound advice — or ignoring it entirely.”
Several fund managers said privately that they’re adjusting their portfolios under the assumption that Trump might regain power and implement the plan, however unfeasible it may seem. “Markets can price in volatility,” one noted, “but not irrationality. If the president of the United States doesn’t behave in a way that’s tethered to economic reality, how do you hedge for that?”
While no fund manager interviewed for this story would publicly suggest Trump is mentally unstable, the language used in private reflects a deep unease. Words like delusional, detached, and dangerously confident surfaced repeatedly.
Trump’s allies dismiss the criticism as fear-mongering from the financial elite, portraying the tariff plan as a bold reassertion of American strength. “They said the same thing in 2016,” said one campaign adviser. “They were wrong then, and they’ll be wrong again.”
Still, even some Trump-leaning investors are uncomfortable. “I supported a lot of his deregulation and tax cuts,” said a portfolio manager known for backing right-leaning policies. “But this? It’s not strategy — it’s like lighting a match next to a gas leak.”
As markets attempt to digest the political signals and their economic implications, a new and uneasy question lingers in the minds of many fund managers: What if Trump’s most chaotic ideas aren’t calculated plays — but the result of a leader increasingly divorced from the economic and geopolitical realities of the modern world?