'Big Short' investor Michael Burry fired back after Trump ridiculed short sellers

Investor Michael Burry fired back at President Donald Trump after Trump ridiculed short sellers at a White House luncheon, calling them "poor bastards" and saying they are "betting against the country." Burry responded on X that Trump could not understand his Substack essays but can "shoot from the hip and make money for him and his cronies better than anyone." The exchange highlights ongoing tensions between Trump and short sellers amid a stock market rally driven by AI hype.

Michael Burry https://www.businessinsider.com/big-short-michael-burry-substack-ai-bubble-stock-picks-bitcoin-2025-12 hit back at President Donald Trump after the US leader jeered at short sellers on Monday. Speaking at a White House luncheon to mark the launch of Trump Accounts https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-account-how-to-register-your-child-2026-7 , Trump hailed the "hottest stock market in history" and pondered aloud whether anyone wasn't enjoying the ride. "I guess you have a couple of guys that went short, those poor bastards," he said. "I mean, they're in big trouble. They're being wiped out." "I never like short guys https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/trump-accuses-investors-talking-stock-market-down-short-selling-gains-2020-5-1029198713 because they're betting against the country," Trump added. Burry — the investor of "The Big Short" fame who's known for betting against stocks https://www.businessinsider.com/big-short-michael-burry-tesla-nvidia-caterpillar-ai-stocks-microchips-2026-7 such as Tesla, Nvidia, and Palantir — fired back in a since-deleted X post. "Donald Trump could not in a million years understand or make his way through any of my substack essays https://www.businessinsider.com/big-short-michael-burry-substack-investing-strategy-ai-bubble-stocks-2026-2 ," Burry wrote. "But he can shoot from the hip and make money for him and his cronies better than anyone." Burry, who has pivoted from running a hedge fund to writing about his personal investments https://www.businessinsider.com/why-big-short-michael-burry-blogging-writing-substack-investing-buffett-2025-11 on Substack, was likely referring to Trump's recent disclosure that he made more than $2 billion last year, in part by trading assets such as stocks and cryptocurrencies. The investor — who shot to fame after his massive bet https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/big-short-michael-burry-scion-housing-market-bubble-gamestop-stock-2021-9 against the mid-2000s housing bubble was immortalized in the book and movie "The Big Short" — defended short sellers in a later post as well. "The biggest mistake shorts make is believing people are smarter than they are," he wrote. Burry walked through how he approaches shorting in a Substack post https://michaeljburry.substack.com/p/mega-trading-postshort-thoughts-mash last month. He emphasized that it's a high-risk practice, the upside is limited, and losses can mount quickly. "Shorting is a world filled with slippery slopes and sand castles," he wrote. "The sand castles are real, and vulnerable, but the slippery slopes drive men insane https://www.businessinsider.com/ackman-short-selling-is-not-worth-the-brain-damage-2015-5 and ultimately prevent most from being properly positioned when the castle is washed away." Burry said that his portfolio is "mostly long most of the time." He conserves more cash https://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffett-berkshire-ceo-retirement-greg-abel-challenges-cash-dividend-2026-1 as valuations get rich, then focuses on finding bargains when markets become even more stretched. "As I deploy into serially whacked undervalued stocks, I also begin to short the market through puts on indices as well as stocks most sensitive to the prevailing mania's fulcrum points," he wrote. Stocks have soared to record highs this year, driven by immense buzz around AI. Burry has been one of the biggest doubters of the boom https://www.businessinsider.com/why-michael-burry-big-short-nvidia-palantir-ai-bubble-stocks-2025-11 , saying tech companies are overinvesting in AI infrastructure, and valuations of chipmakers and other companies riding the AI wave have reached unsustainable highs. Short sellers have gotten a bad rap https://www.businessinsider.com/michael-burry-short-nvda-pltr-stock-market-bubble-scion-retail-2025-11 in recent years as party poopers who bet on stocks to fall and market rallies to reverse. But they can make markets more efficient by uncovering fraudulent practices, countering overoptimism with skepticism, and pouring cold water on hype and speculative excess. Burry and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.