Citadel founder Ken Griffin's current market advice: 'Tread water and not drown'

• Billionaire Citadel founder Ken Griffin sees "no great market opportunities" as the market shrinks.
• Griffin criticized the Trump administration's tariffs for hurting the US dollar.
• Griffin, who voted for President Donald Trump, recommended investors "tread water and not drown."

Billionaire Citadel founder Ken Griffin, whose $65 billion hedge fund is the most profitable of all time, is not eyeing any winning bets right now.

Speaking at Semafor's World Economic Summit in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Griffin said the overall market is shrinking too fast to generate returns.

"There are no great opportunities," he said.

Griffin warned that the trade war was causing the country to lose its status as a financial safe haven globally and was putting the United States' brand at risk.

"We're eroding that brand right now," said Griffin, who in the same conversation praised his administration's work on immigration and reversing "wokeism."

The reason is the administration's trade war that has "devolved into a nonsensical place."

The Miami-biased billionaire is one of many deep-pocketed supporters of President Donald Trump who have questioned the rationale and implementation of the tariffs. The policies, implemented earlier this month, have rattled global equity and bond markets, hurt the US dollar's standing against other currencies, and sent investors fleeing for safe-haven assets like gold.

He said that, when comparing the dollar to the euro, "we've become 20% poorer" because of the American currency's slide against its European equivalent.

"All you're trying to do is tread water and not drown," he added.

Citadel has avoided most of the market pain, but the firm's flagship fund was still down 0.9% through the end of the first quarter. By comparison, the S&P 500 fell more than 4% over the same time period and has been hit even harder in April.

Stocks are up more than 2% on the day, though, as investors believe the administration is softening on its hardline stance toward China

Griffin, who voted for Trump and donated to Trump's inauguration, called on business leaders to talk "calmly, respectively, and collectively" with the President, the House of Representatives, and the Senate about these polices.