Bloomberg advises Mexico to heed Trump’s deeds

Ignore Donald Trump’s words and focus on his deeds, Michael Bloomberg has told Mexico, advising the country to use the president-elect’s antitrade rhetoric as a wake-up call to sharpen its economy’s competitiveness.

“My advice for Mexico is to use this as an opportunity to look inward and see what you can improve to make this country more competitive,” the former New York mayor, whom Mr Trump last week asked for advice on a potential cabinet nominee, told the FT during a visit to Mexico. The two laughed about the insults they traded during the election campaign on a call last week.

“What’s all this hyperventilating when the one thing you know is that Donald Trump has said the equivalent of nothing — he’s been on both sides of every issue,” Mr Bloomberg added. “You can’t do anything about what Donald Trump is going to say next week, so why worry about it?” 

Mr Bloomberg, another New York billionaire businessman-turned-politician, is putting his money where his mouth is through a range of philanthropic initiatives in the key US trading partner. 

Mexico is worried, however, that investment and trade flows could be hammered if Mr Trump makes big changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement — a deal he has vowed to rewrite in the US interest. Mr Trump last week used a package of tax breaks to persuade air conditioner maker Carrier not to move hundreds of US jobs to Mexico and has threatened to slap a 35 per cent duty on Mexican-made goods. 

That has sparked fears of a trade war, though Mr Bloomberg said: “The reality is, he can’t rip up Nafta . . . He’d put 5m people in America out of work overnight.” 

Robots, not Mexicans, were jeopardising US workers, Mr Bloomberg added. “I think what’s killing jobs is not cross-border trade, it’s technology,” he said. “You’re going to have a lot more technology taking a lot more jobs. The only answer to that for your people is to increase trade. So to walk away from trade when this is happening, for America to walk away from TPP [the Trans-Pacific Partnership] — insanity is too subtle a word. It’s just stupid economics.” 

Mr Bloomberg considered an independent campaign for the presidency before concluding he could not win and would only have been branded “the one who gave you Donald Trump”. Now 74, he admits rekindling his presidential ambitions is “very unlikely”. 

While far from seeing eye-to-eye with the president-elect, the two New York moguls and their families move in similar social circles. During the election campaign Mr Bloomberg said Mr Trump was not sane and was dangerous; the tall Mr Trump retorted by mocking “little Bloomberg”. 

The former mayor said he had been sounded out on the call for advice on a potential cabinet pick but declined to say who. “I said it’s not my job to tell you who to pick. My advice to him is always to hire people who are smarter than you are,” he said he told the president-elect. 

But he promised to be forthright if he thought Mr Trump had gone off the rails.

The blunt-spoken businessman, who founded the eponymous news and data business and is now giving away his $34bn fortune by funding philanthropic projects “that other people don’t want to do”, was in Mexico for a summit of mayors to fight climate change at city level. He is pouring $45m into the initiative, which he promotes as UN special envoy for cities and climate change.

He has so far donated a total of $4.4bn, including $510m last year alone. 

His interest in Mexico runs deep: he championed a tax on soda and junk food to fight obesity that is now being copied in parts of the US. Since 2010, Bloomberg Philanthropies has invested $76m in a range of initiatives in Mexico, including fighting obesity, road safety and combating corruption. 

Elsewhere, his foundation funds initiatives from antismoking campaigns to stamping out the use of heavily polluting coal to eradicating polio. . 

He professes to no regrets about the failure of his presidential dream. “I love what I’m doing. We’re making a difference in the world with Bloomberg Philanthropies,” he said.