Donald Trump has made headlines this year as he sets his sights on Greenland after invading Venezuela – but one Brit labelled the US president an “absurd buffoon”
Robin Cottle Assistant Editor Trendswatch
12:08, 10 Jan 2026
Donald Trump has been branded an ‘absurd buffoon’ (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
A man dubbed the ‘richest Welshman in the world’ has branded Donald Trump an “absurd buffoon”.
Cardiff-born multibillionaire Sir Michael Moritz made his fortune in Silicon Valley and is on first-name terms with the likes of Elon Musk and other high-profile tech entrepreneurs. The Sunday Times estimated his fortune is £4.435billion.
When it comes to the topic of the controversial US president, he was less the complimentary as he admitted feeling “sorry” for Musk as he attempted to work with Trump after the SpaceX boss helped get him elected to the White House again.
Speaking to The Times, he said: “Most of these people who pose in pictures with Trump, they have his number. And they realise what an absurd buffoon he is.
“But he’s running a protection racket and they’ve got to pay for protection. That’s what they’re doing.
Sir Michael Moritz made his fortune in the USA(Image: Getty Images)
“Poor Elon, I thought he didn’t understand quite who he was dealing with. But look, that’s the sad, sorry truth about Trump, that this is a man who has a good sense of problems that are real problems: competition with China on fair trade and the immigration issue at the border, Europe not paying its fair share in defence, bloated government? Very easy for me to agree with all that stuff.”
Moritz made his fortune with Sequoia Capital, a venture capital firm named after the world’s tallest tree and he lives in San Francisco with his wife.
It comes after Donald Trump revealed the real reason he wants to own Greenland as the dramatic start to the year continues.
He claims that if the US doesn’t take control of the Danish autonomous territory – some 2,000 miles from the US coastline – Russia or China will invade it.
The Welshman said he felt ‘sorry’ seeing Elon Musk try to deal with Trump(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The president was speaking at an event with oil companies hoping to be involved in his raid of Venezuelan resources that saw the country’s president Nicolás Maduro and his wife taken in a US raid.
Trump said he’d get his hands on Greenland the “easy way” or the “hard way”. He was asked how much money he’d offer Greenlanders in a bid to buy the territory, but said he isn’t talking about money “yet.”
He said “Right now, we are going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not because if we don’t do it Russia or China will take over Greenland, and we’re not going to have Russia or China as a neighbour. Okay? I would like to make a deal, you know, the easy way. But if we don’t do it the easy way, we’re going to do it the hard way.
“We are going to do something on Greenland whether they like it or not.”