‘I’m Petrified’: BlackRock CEO Warns U.S. May Already Be In a Recession, Says Trump Made Us a Global ‘Destabilizer’

Larry Fink, the CEO of financial giant BlackRock, told CNBC on Friday that he’s “petrified” by President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs and all the various issues they raise for the economy.

“The United States, post-World War II, was a global stabilizer. We are the global destabilizer. And that’s a very, you know, that’s a very hard thing to say,” Fink said, adding:

Because I pride ourselves on being, you know, bringing the leadership, bringing the conversations. Yes, I do believe we’re probably starting, if not, we’re in a recession. I think the market is still underestimating how high inflation can get.

If you factor in all the tariffs, you factor in all these other issues, it’s going to be quite additive. I mean, I read in a report that if you just take the tariffs in the cost of home building, the average new home could be up as much as 26%. We already have a housing affordability problem.

“None of this sounds any good to me, and it’s all self-inflicted, by the way. None of it needed to happen,” replied the CNCB host.

“This is not a pandemic. This is not a financial crisis. This is something that we’ve created. But in the short run, I’m petrified at some of these issues,” Fink added.

Fink reportedly said on a Friday call with analysts that Trump’s tariffs far exceeded his expectations. “The sweeping U.S. tariff announcements went beyond anything I could have imagined in my 49 years in finance,” Fink said on the call, adding, “In the short run, we have an economy that is at risk.”

“This isn’t Wall Street versus Main Street,” he added. “The market downturn impacts millions of ordinary people’s retirement savings.”

Fink’s comments came the same day the University of Michigan released survey results finding that consumer sentiment dropped a whopping 11% this month – putting it at the second lowest level since the stat was recorded in 1952.

Watch the clip above.