If Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 presidential election, the U.S. would be experiencing a recession today, billionaire hedge fund manager Leon Cooperman told CNBC on Thursday.

The nation is better off with President Donald Trump in the White House than it would have been under Clinton or her 2016 rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Bernie Sanders, contended Cooperman.

The chairman and CEO of Omega Advisors said his thinking heading into the election was, "'I don't know what I'll get with Donald Trump, but I'll take my chances.'" Cooperman said he's a registered independent. "I think personally if Hillary Clinton had won, we'd be in a recession today," he said on "Fast Money Halftime Report."

Cooperman said he'd vote for Trump again over Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who is speculated to run in the 2020 election.

Trump deserves "a lot" of the credit for the stock market run since the November election, he added. "The intelligent people who voted for Donald Trump a year ago, 'said I know what I'll get when I get Hillary. I don't want it.'"

Cooperman also on commented Barack Obama, saying the 44th president had a "foot on the throat of the economy."

The biggest risk to Trump and the Republican Party is not passing a tax bill before the 2018 midterm elections, he said. Trump and the GOP leaders in the House and Senate hope to have the tax cuts package signed into law by Christmas.