The Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute’s CEO forum gathers top political leaders with Fortune 500 CEOs for a Chatham House rules discussion where direct quotes are off the record. In Washington DC this week at the 155th gathering, as clouds swirled around the Capitol building just steps away, senators from both parties and some top Trump administration officials joined us. They had to face down the near unanimous verdict from over 100 top business leaders, representing some of the world’s largest companies and most iconic brands:
Trump’s policies aren’t working.
These opinions were all about business results, by the way: the reasoning was independent of personal politics or industry sector, it always came back to the bottom line.
You must log in or # to comment.
Fuck That! We ride this bitch into to dust and start over. It is going to hurt. We will lose things we hold dear but we are done putting band-aids on, literal, gun shot wounds. FUCK CAPITALISM!
From my perspective as a corporate drone - during the last Trump presidency, we went against some Trump policies and had literal screeching MAGA monkeys try to cancel us. It was a shitshow within the company as we went from a “Everyone has the right to speak freely” to a “No politics in chat” rule. People were getting death threats.
It’s ridiculous and frustrating.
This has to be vague for privacy reasons but I am aware of a similar incident where a medium sized org was targeted. There were all kinds of threats and harassment for a few weeks, including some in person on site where employees feared for their safety. The police and FBI were involved and investigating but I don’t think anyone responsible was prosecuted for actions during this incident.
What the fuck were they expecting?
That he would remove regulation and taxes, and leave the rest alone.
They’re CEOs, being a fucking idiot with zero problem solving skills is a job requirement. That’s what the underlings they ignore are for.
CEO’s mooch off of the value of labour, no doubt, but to think they are stupid is a serious miscalculation. That kind of arrogance, underestimating your opponent, doesn’t win any battles.
Hubris has been fucking wild lately so I honestly would be surprised if they were that arrogant
CEO is like the one job that AI could save a company a lot of money by replacing and would do it quite well considering they don’t seem to really do anything other than being soulless fucks
Who says they supported Trump in the first place? Business 101 teaches that a stable, predictable market is good for business. First go-round was bad enough, but this time Trump campaigned on massive tariffs. And again, they knew damned well that would be bad for the economy.
If my dumbass knows all this, I can hardly imagine a top-level CEO would not. Small-time CEOs can be dipshits, but stupid CEOs are rare at major companies. We just don’t hear about regular competency because it’s only news when they say or do something wildly stupid.
Yeah, I don’t understand why anyone would be surprised. Trump didn’t do anything related to supply chain, he did real estate, so he’s familiar with the real estate business and tax law. He’s not familiar with manufacturing, retail, farming, or tech, so it’s no surprise his poicies miss the mark.
His policies are also intended to destroy America not help it, so it’s no surprise they offer little to help.
Hiding behind closed doors, our top CEOs say Trump is bad for business and it’s time to Make America into America Again
Much more accurate.
Imagine you are responsible for the livelihood of thousands of people and you know damned well standing against Trump will bring direct retribution on those people.
Imagine you are responsible for the livelihood of thousands of people and you know damned well standing against Trump will bring direct retribution on those people.
Capitulation is never the right response when dealing with fascists because fascists will never be satisfied to let it end with one demand. We have now reached the point where Trump is demanding coverage meet his specific standards. If it doesn’t meet those standards he says it’s not free speech anymore. Do you think companies should get Trump’s prior approval for articles and comedians get his prior approval for jokes to avoid the retribution you mention? Should non-media company executives get prior approval for public statements?
The long term fallout from being silent, or backing down and becoming the propaganda arm of Trump’s already fascist regime will far worse than any possible retribution these companies face in the short term. If every company stated the truth about Trump’s effect on their business not one of them would have to worry about retribution.
You and I get it. But I’m still not sure I would throw my hypothetical employees under the bus. I’m not arguing for capitulation, we damned well know that doesn’t work with fascists. I’m just presenting the major CEO side of the equation.
Fuck me, I can’t fly a flag, plant a yard sign or cut a bumper sticker because I dare not draw attention to my immigrant wife. I know, that’s different, but still, I can’t invite violence because I have the means to shoot back, at all times, even on the shitter. I can’t die or go to jail over shooting an angry redneck. I got a wife and two small children depending on me. I’m ready, I’m willing, but we all gotta pick our battles.
Neither of us are being paid millions to represent the interests of a Fortune listed corporation either. We have essentially zero influence on the national stage and as individuals can be easily targeted by the Maga nuts. Those who do have power and are getting paid accordingly have failed us completely.
Among politicians AOC and a few others shouldn’t be so alone when leading the charge against what the fascists are doing. There should be a fucking chorus of people from across the political spectrum, but instead pols, business leaders, law enforcement and the press are mostly busy keeping their heads down rather that speaking up. It amazes me that so many people in our government are blithely ignoring the oaths they took with their hands on a bible. If they actually believed in God those oaths would mean something.
If those paid to do so had been speaking up from the start Trump would have been removed from office during the last shitshow, or impeached after he left office, or tried and convicted for inciting insurgency, or tried and convicted for stealing classified documents and storing them in his bathroom, or dropped off the ballot in the states, or all of the above. Instead we’re stuck as the proverbial frog in slowly boiling water.
IMO it’s time that we start loudly calling out those in power who aren’t using it and are instead pretending there is nothing wrong.
Good luck making it through this dumpster fire with your wife.
Sure they are. This is totally not an arrempt to straddle both sides of the line in an effort to cover their bases. Totally believe them…
Businesses after supporting Trump: This is not what we paid for!
