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‘We were on the verge of complete meltdown’: Branson tears into Trump's tariff war

Government
Gary Noakes
24 April 2025

Virgin Atlantic chair Sir Richard Branson has urged Donald Trump to rein in his "unpredictable" governance, warning the US president’s snap policy decisions risk "great damage".

Virgin Atlantic is operating daily Heathrow-Riyadh flights (Credit: Virgin Atlantic)

Branson was speaking alongside Virgin chief executive Shai Weiss as the carrier marked the start of flights to Saudi capital Riyadh, and announced plans to launch a Seoul route next spring.

Of Trump’s tariffs, Branson said: “An unsettled world is not good for anybody, I hope it calms down. Tariffs have done a lot of harm – we were on the verge of a complete meltdown two weeks ago."