By Alex Harring

Copyright cnbc

“I spoke about my concerns with the crony capitalism if we went down the path of tariffs,” Griffin said. “The line outside the White House of every business arguing why they should be exempt from paying tariffs on what they import into their products is nauseating.”

The Wall Street bigwig said tariffs can be considered similar to a “national sales tax.” Because the levies would make up a higher proportion of household income for lower earners, Griffin said there are “issues of equity and fairness” involved with Trump’s tariff policy.

Griffin warned that companies should act carefully when it comes to trying to win favor of a current White House team. He said those companies could find themselves disliked or having to make new deals when a new person takes the nation’s highest office.

“It’s the government’s engagement in picking winners and losers. And we should tread carefully on that water,” Griffin said. “In fact, we should just stay out of it. That’s where the crocodiles live.”

“The core competency won’t be that you can drive innovation,” he added. “It’s that you can drive the right favors from D.C.”