Billionaire investor and Trump critic Mark Cuban gave a stark economic prediction over the weekend, saying the United States economy could be in a “far worse situation than 2008” if things don’t change.
“If the new tariffs stay in place for multiple years, and are enforced and inflationary, and DOGE continues to cut and fire, we will be in a far worse situation than 2008,” Cuban wrote Saturday in a post on Bluesky.
Cuban made the statements after another user asked what the “worst-case outcome” would be if Trump didn’t make any deals to reduce the individual reciprocal tariffs he is planning to levy against them.
“Would we face a recession comparable to 2008? Worse? As bad as the 2020 pandemic recession? Worse?” the user asked.
Last Wednesday, on what Trump dubbed “Liberation Day,” the president announced a baseline 10% tariff rate for all countries, and higher reciprocal tariff rates for individual countries, many of which are the nation’s biggest trade partners. He’s also issued 25% tariffs on all foreign made vehicles.
The announcement sent the stock market tumbling and companies scrambling, like Jaguar Land Rover Automotive, a United Kingdom-based carmaker, sharing plans to stop shipments to the U.S. while it rethinks its straightening.
Still, many wonder if the president’s tariffs are him opening trade negotiations, an attempt to push interest rates lower, or just what he says, a new way of doing business.
So far, more than 50 countries have attempted to discuss the tariffs with the U.S. since Trump’s announcement last week, officials shared.
Trump said Monday that he plans to let the tariffs go into effect, even with three days of sliding stock market value and experts warning of a pending economic crisis.