In a move that has sent shockwaves through financial and political circles, Warren Buffett, the legendary “Oracle of Omaha,” has broken his trademark political neutrality. In a stunning, 46-minute monologue, the Berkshire Hathaway CEO has delivered a deeply “cautionary” assessment of Donald Trump’s 2025 presidency. This isn’t a partisan attack. Instead, it’s a cold, calculated analysis from the most successful investor in modern history, and his conclusion is chilling: the White House is in the grip of unprecedented “chaos,” and the “tide is retreating fast.”

The message, which surfaced in late 2025, avoids political talking points. Buffett frames his entire argument from the perspective of a “numbers guy” concerned with market stability, investor confidence, and the rule of law. “When something’s affecting markets,” the voice states, “when it’s creating the kind of uncertainty that makes businesses nervous, well I think it’s worth talking about.”

And talk he does. The central thesis of the monologue is that the 2025 Trump administration is not the “triumphant return to power” that was expected. Instead, it is facing an “avalanche” of crises—legal, financial, and institutional—all converging at the same time. This, Buffett argues, has created a “pressure chamber” that is destabilizing the nation.

“If you really want to understand what’s going on with Trump right now, you got to look at the center of it all, and that center, that’s the Trump Organization,” he explains. Here, Buffett lays out a devastating case, claiming that the company, once a symbol of “luxury” and “prestige,” is now being viewed as a massive liability.

He alleges that due to “findings of fraud and misrepresentation” that “hang over his brand like a dark cloud,” the financial system that once propped Trump up is now quietly abandoning him. “The banks have quietly begun distancing themselves,” he warns. “Insurance companies, same thing… they’ve been re-evaluating their risk exposure.” This, he says, is the “silent part of Trump’s trouble” — a catastrophic “loss of confidence from the financial system.”

This internal rot, he argues, is compounded by a volatile and self-defeating policy agenda. He details how the administration’s sweeping executive orders on trade, immigration, and energy are being “immediately met with lawsuits, injunctions, and congressional resistance.” He describes it as “trying to drive a car forward while someone’s got the emergency brake on.”

The tariffs, in particular, are singled out as a critical failure. What was intended to protect American industry has “triggered retaliatory measures” from China and the European Union. The result, he states, is not an American resurgence, but a simple, painful outcome: “prices go up… prices for consumers, prices for businesses, prices for everybody.”

This domestic instability is being watched closely by the rest of the world. The monologue claims that America’s rivals—Russia, China, and Iran—see the “chaos in Washington” as an “opportunity.” More troubling, America’s allies are no longer confident in its long-term commitments. They are “hedging their bets” and “exploring independent trade strategies,” leading to a “slow erosion of influence.”

But the most explosive part of the monologue is not just the diagnosis; it’s what Buffett reveals about his own actions.

He references his core investment philosophy: “Markets can handle bad news. What they can’t handle is chaos.” He defines the current environment—where policy changes by the day and institutions are seen as “tools of personal defense”—as the very definition of chaos. America’s real strength, he argues, has always been its “predictability.” That predictability is now gone.

So, what is the Oracle of Omaha doing?

“Berkshire Hathaway,” he reveals, “we’re sitting on record cash reserves right now.” He is clear this isn’t pessimism. “I’m not betting against America,” he insists. “I am betting that America is heading into a storm.” This massive cash pile isn’t just “standard investment advice”; it is, in his words, a “quiet alarm bell ringing through Wall Street.” It is the ultimate act of “strategic prudence” from a man who sees what’s coming.

The monologue paints a portrait of a president in “far deeper trouble” than anyone understands, a leader who has built a career as “Trump the survivor.” He has survived bankruptcies, impeachments, and investigations. But the monologue argues that “every comeback has a cost” and this time, the “costs are mounting faster than the victories.”

The core problem, as Buffett sees it, is that Trump is “caught between two competing priorities: on one side, there’s defending his personal empire… on the other side, there’s steering a country.” The message is blunt: “You can’t really do both well.”

The monologue concludes with Buffett’s most famous metaphor, deployed here as a final, devastating judgment.

“I said something once, and I’ve said it many times… you find out who’s swimming naked when the tide goes out,” he states. For decades, he argues, Trump was protected by a high tide—a booming economy, a strong brand, and a loyal base.

“For Donald Trump, the tide is retreating fast,” he warns. “All the things that propped him up before… are being tested now, really tested. And the water is receding, pulling back, exposing what’s underneath.”

The world, he concludes, “is about to see just how deep the water really is.”

The monologue is a comprehensive and terrifying breakdown of a presidency teetering on the edge, not from a political rival, but from the high priest of American capitalism. The alarm has been rung, and the message is clear: the man who famously values “predictability” above all else is now hoarding cash and preparing for a storm.