Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman says the US military strike on Venezuela on Jan 3 was an audacious but necessary step.
According to Ackman, the attack allows the US to effectively take control of the economic resources of Venezuela while still working with the existing administration to help run the country. The attack also allows US to send a strong message to geopolitical rivals like Russia and China.
Ackman made his remarks during a dialogue session with UBS Group’s global co-head of wealth management, Iqbal Khan, at the bank’s annual Asia Wealth Forum on Jan 12.
“It’s about resetting the balance of power in our hemisphere and it was done without any loss of life on our side and without any civilian casualties on Venezuela’s,” Ackman says. “Every dictator in the world is sleeping with one eye open and that’s a very good thing.”
Ackman’s sanguine view should not come as a surprise. Shortly after the US launched its military strike on Venezuela on Jan 3, Ackman said in an X post that the removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro “will lower oil prices, which is good for America and very bad for Russia.”
“A weaker Russian economy will increase the probability that the war in Ukraine ends sooner and on more favourable terms for Ukraine,” Ackman writes. “And Putin will be sleeping in his safe room from this point going forward.”
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While President Donald Trump's unilateral attack has raised concerns over whether it will spur China to retake Taiwan by force, Ackman believes the attack will in fact deter China from making any aggressive moves.
“With US now in control of Venezuelan oil resources, it becomes much riskier for China to move against Taiwan,” says Ackman in another X post on Jan 4. China was the biggest buyer of Venezuela’s oil.
Ackman was a longtime donor to the Democratic Party but endorsed Trump instead of Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential election. In an X post published on October 12, 2024, Ackman criticised the Democratic Party’s promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI ideologies, and its limited support for Israel.
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“To be clear, my decision to vote for Trump is not an endorsement of everything he has done or will do because he is an imperfect man,” Ackman writes. “Of the two, I believe that Trump is by far the superior candidate despite his flaws and mistakes he has made in the past.”
On Jan 11, Ackman praised Trump in a post on X, noting that the successful strike on Venezuela has inspired the Iranians to step up their protests against their government.
Demonstrations in Iran had started in late December and were initially over economic grievances but have since escalated into full-blown anti-government protests. Dozens have lost their lives amid the government’s crackdown on demonstrators. Trump told reporters on Sunday that the US and its military is “looking at some very strong options” against Iran.
“The Iranian people watched Maduro taunt the President and then we all witnessed perhaps the greatest special forces operation in history,” says Ackman on X. “The world is changing quickly and the bad guys are cowering in fear.”
