Economist and fund manager Craig Shapiro is not mincing words on President Donald Trump and his latest attempts at centralizing economic power in the White House.
What Happened: On Sunday, Shapiro, the founder of The Collaborative Fund and a macro strategist at The Bear Trap Report, called out Trump in a post on X for running the American economy “like a Mafia don.”
Shapiro says that Trump wants to run the entire economy through the White House. “He has shut down the supply chain simply because he can, seeking to rebuild it in his own vision where loyalists and his supporters run their businesses without interference,” he says.
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The veteran trader and investor argues that Trump is summoning the nation’s largest companies to his office, “to beg him to support their efforts, give them exemptions, remove competitors, etc.”
“He [Trump] doesn’t care about small business owners,” Shapiro says, “because he likes big things, not small things.” He warns that small businesses don’t have any voice under this administration, since Trump wouldn’t want to “waste any time on you.”
According to Shapiro, Trump wants companies to “beg, grovel, and offer gifts” in exchange for favorable treatment, a dynamic that he compares with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who regularly has all of the nation’s rich oligarchs come in, “to kiss the ring and pay the tithe.”
Shapiro argues that Trump's leadership style is rooted in loyalty and transactional dealings, with dissenters quickly pushed aside. “He is reducing the number of keys in society he needs to maintain and grow his power,” he says, warning that when democracies start sliding toward autocracy, the outcomes are usually grim.
Why It Matters: Trump's behind-the-scenes deal-making in the Oval Office has drawn sharp criticism from several other high-profile voices in recent weeks.
Among the critics is investment advisor Ross Gerber, who recently described the situation as the “Art of the Steal.” Gerber warned that small businesses will be the ones to suffer and go bankrupt, while Trump grants exemptions on Chinese imports for the Magnificent Seven MAGS companies. “This is not only absurd, but just wrong,” Gerber said.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) recently criticized Apple Inc. AAPL CEO Tim Cook, citing what she described as a pattern of influence peddling by “huge, well-connected corporations” that, she argued, “creates the appearance of impropriety.”
Photo Courtesy: Jonah Elkowitz on Shutterstock.com
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