“His ego permits him to — where a lot of these other presidents don’t — surround himself with really good people, not just me but others,” Icahn said in an interview with Reuters.
“He needs as many good people as he can get in this environment today. We certainly don’t see that in many of these presidents.”
Trump has said in interviews and speeches that if elected, he would love to name Icahn as Treasury Secretary.
The father of 2 said he’s flattered to be considered for the position but he does not get up early enough in the morning to accept the opportunity. Asked if he’d take on a top economic advisory role, Icahn said: “We never talked about that.”
Icahn made his fortune in the 1980s buying stakes in poorly-performing companies and battling management to turn them around. Currently he is making billion dollar bets on a rebound in energy and commodities.
Like Trump, who also grew up in the New York neighbourhood of Queens, Icahn revels in anti-corporate rhetoric.
In a video entitled “Danger Ahead” released on Tuesday, the 79-year old criticizes Wall Street and the Federal Reserve for what he says is a bubble in the corporate bond market and the super-rich for not paying enough taxes.
“Most of these rich guys — many of them — haven’t done very much,” Icahn said. “People on Wall Street, I know them, they are good friends of mine.”
“But not having to pay full taxes on money that you are earning is an absurdity,” he said, pointing to private equity and hedge fund managers who benefit from the so-called “carried interest” loophole under which their earnings are taxed as capital gains rather than ordinary wage income.
In one section of the video, which includes a clip from the mafia movie “Goodfellas,” Icahn attacks Wall Street for pushing riskier junk bonds on Americans.
“Wall Street does what Wall Street does best, it sells securities,” Icahn said. “I used to laugh with some of these guys who sell these bonds. I used to say, ‘You know, the Mafia has a better code of ethics than you guys.’ You know you keep selling this crap, and you keep selling it.”
‘THE COUNTRY IS BURNING’
Icahn also criticized U.S. companies for parking profits abroad through takeovers and complicated tax structures.
“If we don’t really allow these companies to bring the money back that they are making there (overseas), they are just going to move out of this country,” Icahn said by phone.
“It’s gonna happen more quickly than they think. While Congress is sort of fiddling around, this thing is being done. The country is burning and they’re fiddling.”
Icahn’s video came out a day after Trump, currently the Republican presidential front-runner, unveiled sweeping proposals to simplify the tax code, slash the corporate tax rate and impose a one-time levy on the overseas earnings of U.S. companies.
Trump’s plan on taxing overseas profits resembles proposals put forward by President Barack Obama and two senior senators, Democrat Chuck Schumer of New York and Republican Rob Portman of Ohio.
But Icahn said Trump was the only candidate for the 2016 presidential race who really understands the problems.
“I think he definitely wants to prove that he can turn America around,” said Icahn. “I want to see a businessman who understands we have massive problems.” — Reuters
