Hedge fund titan and longtime Donald Trump supporter Carl Icahn said Wednesday that the president-elect’s policies would boost the US economy and that Trump’s victory was a warning to the political establishment.
“I think this is going to be a major change,” Icahn said on CNBC in an interview with CNBC’s Scott Wapner.
Icahn also said he would not consider becoming Trump’s Treasury secretary, a position for which his name had been suggested.
“I don’t think I’d be the right guy,” Icahn said. “I’m not establishment – I’ve never worked for anyone in my life.”
Icahn emphasized that the vote for Trump was a natural progression of change against an economy that was not working.
"This was going against the establishment," Icahn said. "This happens at companies - if you go one way too long, you need change. Change is very important."
In addition, Icahn said he loaded up on stocks during the overnight market turmoil that saw Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fall by more than 800 points. Stocks recovered substantially after Trump struck a conciliatory tone in his victory speech, and the benchmark was most recently up by about 1%.
"I saw that market going down, the insanity," the hedge fund titan said. "So I left the Trump party and went home and bought a lot of stock in the overnight market."
Icahn said he expected Trump to roll back regulations and support corporate tax reform that would help the economy and market. The investor also said he did not expect Trump to repeal regulations of financial industries such as the Dodd-Frank Act because the market could not be the "Wild West," adding, "Wall Street is taking advantage of the rules too much."
Low interest rates also have to go, Icahn said, arguing that the economy is running on a easy-money bubble that is not truly strengthening the economy and middle class.
Icahn has been a supporter of Trump for over a year. In the interview, Icahn said he had not spoken to Trump since the results became clear.