"It would have been with Hillary, and it will be with Trump," he said in a CNN interview on Friday.

Warren Buffett rallied for Hillary Clinton. But now that Trump has won, he's got a $7.7 billion consolation prize. Credit:Andrew Harnik

Not surprisingly, the 86-year old Sage of Omaha had some sanguine advice after the shock election outcome, predicting the sharemarket "will be higher in 10, 20, 30 years from now."

Buffett became one of the richest people in the world by betting on US businesses like insurers, utilities and a railroad, and said he expects them to thrive, even when politicians implement policies that he sees as counterproductive.

He pointed to Trump's plan to dismantle the North American Free Trade Agreement as damaging to the world's largest economy in aggregate, even if increased imports did cost jobs in some US regions.

"I think it's a bad idea, a very bad idea, but I'm not going to say it will cause a recession," said Buffett. "Any time you start playing around with retaliatory-type trade things, it's very likely that the other side is going to start playing too. That's been the history."

Buffett said that an "instructor-in-chief" is needed to sell the public on the benefits of increased international commerce. He also said that many Republicans in Congress support free trade deals, which could limit Trump's chances of following through on his vows.

"This is not exclusive to Donald Trump," Buffett said. "There are a lot of things in campaigns that don't happen after an election."