‘Just a Negotiating Tactic’: Kevin O’Leary Shrugs Off ‘Painful’ Trump Tariff Threat and Says He’s ‘Not Worried About a Recession’
Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary dismissed concerns about President Donald Trump’s tariffs Friday as a “negotiating tactic” he said would be worth it for investors.
O’Leary was met by independent journalist Nicholas Ballasy Thursday and asked if he was personally concerned about the economy with President Donald Trump pushing trade reforms that rattled markets in consecutive weeks.
Ballasy asked, “How worried are you about a recession right now because of the tariffs?”
O’Leary replied, “No, I’m not worried about a recession.”
Shark Tank investor @kevinolearytv explains why he thinks Trump should impose a 400% tariff on China pic.twitter.com/kzbTyNJhpP
— Nicholas A Ballasy (@NicholasBallasy) April 10, 2025
Ballasy followed up on the remarks, saying, “Real quick, about the 400 percent China tariff, are you worried though about product prices, how high they would go?”
The Shark Tank star responded, “It’s just a negotiating tactic to get to the table, that’s all it is. It’s all painful.”
O’Leary said Trump’s pushing of the tariffs was “painful” for “both sides.”
When asked about high-profile Democrats such as Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) who were “tough on China and tariffs” in the 1990s, O’Leary said posturing on the issue “never worked” and that “not a single administration has been effective at IP or enforcing any laws that had any consequence, and all of us that are investors have been waiting for some resolution to this.”
In an MSNBC interview Thursday with host Jose Diaz-Balart, O’Leary similarly argued that the bigger picture on China is the most important thing right now.
“They steal, they don’t play by the rules, and I’ve had enough,” he said in the interview. “And so I would like this thing worked out. I don’t care if Trump ratchets it up 25% a day.”
“Wait, wait, wait, Kevin, what do you mean you don’t care about volatility if volatility has a direct impact on us as consumers?” Díaz-Balart asked.z
“Because we have to fix this problem once and for all. It’s killing us,” O’Leary replied. “It’s killing small business in America. It’s killing large businesses.”
