Tina Fineberg/AP
Howard Schultz.
Donald Trump is creating "chaos" that is impacting the American economy, according to Starbucks' long-time CEO and current chairman Howard Schultz."The world is screwed up. People are unsettled," Schultz said a meeting with the company's support staff in Seattle in February. "There is a tremendous amount of pressure and anxiety in America."
"We have a president that is creating episodic chaos every day, and that is no doubt affecting consumer behavior," Schultz said, in a video obtained by Business Insider.
Schultz said he believed Starbucks was perhaps uniquely suited to thrive in this environment.
"We have an anecdote," he said. "We always have. And that's the sense of community, the third place, and the environment that we create around family."
Schultz, who stepped down as Starbucks' CEO in April, has been an outspoken critic of Trump's policies.
In January, Starbucks pledged to hire 100,000 refugees after Trump issued an executive order banning refugees from entering the US. At the time, Schultz penned an open letter that said the American dream had been "called into question." Previously, Schultz had endorsed Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton for president.
"I think it's obvious that Hillary Clinton needs to be the next president," Schultz said in an interview with CNN's Poppy Harlow in September. "On the other side, we've seen such vitriolic display of bigotry and hate and divisiveness, and that is not the leadership we need for the future of the country."
In December, Schultz said in an interview with CNBC that he did not believe "that Starbucks or the brand is at odds with Trump or his supporters" on any level.