Meg Whitman isn’t buying what Donald Trump’s selling.
On Friday morning, Whitman told CNBC‘s “Squawk on the Street” that the proposed economic policies of the Republican presidential frontrunner would plunge the U.S. into another recession.
His “plan to put on a 35% tariff for goods imported into the United States from Mexico and China would sink this country into a recession,” she said on the show. “It would penalize global companies who are trying to be competitive globally.”
The Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE) CEO pointed out the raising tariffs would make consumer goods more expensive for consumers and businesses alike. “I think he doesn’t fully grasp the law of unintended consequences of what seems like a silver bullet, a quick fix,” she said. “There are no silver bullets and quick fixes to our problems in the United States.”
Whitman, one of the most powerful women in business, then went on to criticize Trump’s tax plan and his refusal to reform the entitlements program, pointing out that these policies would increase the national deficit and national debt—”which is not good for American families and American workers.”
This is not the first time the HPE chief has spoken out against Trump. Last month, she called the presidential candidate a “dishonest demagogue who plays to our worst fears.”
Whitman previously served as national finance co-chair for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s failed presidential campaign. When Christie dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump, she called the move “an astonishing display of political opportunism.”
