Richard Branson accuses Trump of ‘doing so much damage’ to the world

Sir Richard Branson has attacked Donald Trump’s policies as “doing so much damage” to the world, adding that he did not believe the US president’s actions were backed by most Americans.

The Virgin Atlantic founder warned that the “erratic and unpredictable” actions of the White House were undermining business, although he singled out Trump’s policy on Ukraine as the one that “should worry the world the most”.

The British billionaire said that he had spoken to Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive, who has become a prominent Trump adviser, about Ukraine, but did not divulge further details.

In comments made to reporters before Virgin Atlantic’s inaugural flight to mark the start of services from London to the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, Branson said that Trump’s policies, from imposing tariffs to “jumping side” in the war, were “awful for everyone”.

He said: “I honestly think this is a fairly small elite of people around Trump. I don’t think he is carrying the vast majority of Americans in what he is doing.”

Among comments reported variously by the Telegraph, Times and Bloomberg, Branson added: “I’m just sad, incredibly sad. And many, many Americans I know are just very sad.”

He said Trump’s policies were “very difficult for business to deal with”, adding: “It’s just such a pity because everything was going so bloody well up to about three months ago.

“If you take Virgin – our cruise ships were booming, our airlines were booming, our health clubs were full. They are still OK, but you just sort of feel, eurgh! If he continues he’s in such danger of doing so much damage in the world.”

Transatlantic flying is the most lucrative part of Virgin Atlantic’s business but Branson said the US risked isolation. He said there could be a world “where Europe, Australia, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, China … build a powerhouse in years to come. There is a big market out there, which you could find America gets excluded from.”

Shai Weiss, the chief executive of Virgin Atlantic, said the demand for US flights to the UK had been weak amid recent economic uncertainty.

But, he added: “The flipside is that the UK can be a beneficiary of this. The pound is stronger and we are transitioning to a period where bookings are coming more from the UK than the US.”

Weiss said there was no sign, however, that Britons were avoiding the US – with the falling dollar instead very likely to lure more tourists: “We haven’t seen the dramatic shift like we have for Canada to the US and we don’t expect to see it. There have been no statements that Britain should be the 52nd state.”

Meanwhile, Branson defended Virgin’s decision to start flights to Riyadh – despite the airline’s previous championing of diversity and the notoriously illiberal Saudi regime. Branson is due to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday, having previously pulled out of planned investment after the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The entrepreneur said the Saudis had “made a lot of changes. It’s by no means perfect, but it’s definitely moved dramatically in the right direction.”