BOCA RATON, Florida/NEW YORK, March 12 (Reuters) - U.S.

hedge fund Citadel's founder Ken Griffin said he would like to

hear more about U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump's

proposals before supporting him in the elections, when asked

about his backing on Tuesday.

"I want to hear what Trump's going to do for the United

States. I want to see what the policy platform looks like," he

told a conference hosted by the Futures Industry Association in

Boca Raton, Florida. "I have a bit more optimism that we're

going to see a bit more thoughtfulness in policies and a little

less in the realm of just rhetoric."

Griffin is a Republican mega donor, having donated some $67

million in the 2020 election cycle, making him the third largest

individual Republican donor that cycle, according to

OpenSecrets, which tracks money in politics.

In January, he gave $5 million to an outside group

supporting Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. "Can I

just have a moment to be sad," he told the audience when asked

about his future support.

Still, Griffin complimented some of Trump's past

achievements as president, saying he believes the former

president pursued policies that were "incredibly" pro-growth.

U.S. ECONOMY

When asked about the state of the U.S. economy, Griffin said

the pace of increase of consumer prices in February, as revealed

by data on Tuesday, was close to market expectations, but that

he expected the central bank to be slower in cutting interest

rates than what the market projects.

Traders on Tuesday were betting the Fed would start cutting

rates in June this year.