Billionaire fund manager George Soros said on Wednesday the United States under President George W. Bush was "a danger to the world" and renewed a pledge to open his wallet to Democratic party challengers.
In an interview with Germany's "Stern" magazine, he said he had donated $12.5 million to back Democratic challengers so far.
"The Bush government wants to force its will upon the whole world," said Soros, whose $11.5 billion Soros Fund Management is one of the world's largest hedge funds.
"This government has fallen into the hands of political extremists. America is a danger for the world."
Soros, 73, "broke" the British pound in 1992 and in May 2003 helped push the US dollar to near record lows against the euro by announcing he was selling greenbacks.
He said he had lived in totalitarian systems in Hungary under both the Nazis and Communists, and feared the Bush administration was moving the country in an ominous direction.
"I'm not comparing Bush to the Nazis but something's happening in this country that I never thought possible: the open society is deeply endangered," Soros said. He said he was alarmed the government was exploiting fears over the September 11, 2001, suicide attacks to pursue its aims.
"It's often said this terrible act of terror changed the world," he said. "No, the world is being changed by the way the Bush government is reacting to this terror, the way it's exploiting it and using it to curtail civil liberties and striving to rule the world."
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