U.S. President Donald Trump speaks next to Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Cisco Chuck Robbins during a Business Roundtable event in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 11, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Several top corporate CEOs recently confided that despite their public shows of fealty to President Donald Trump, they are less than flattering of him behind closed doors.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Trump was the main topic of conversation a gathering of corporate executives at the Yale CEO Caucus earlier this week. The economy has been on a roller coaster ride since Trump announced — and then almost immediately withdrew — punishing new tariffs on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico. 25% tariffs on Canadian imported steel and aluminum products went into effect Wednesday, however.
When Trump suggested doubling his steel and aluminum tariffs, the roomful of CEOs — which included JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, Pfizer CEO Albert Boula and Dell CEO Michael Dell — the Journal reported that the room "responded with a mix of groans and shocked laughter."
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"There was universal revulsion against the Trump economic policies," Yale School of Management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who organized the event, told the paper. "They’re also especially horrified about Canada."
Bill George, who is the former CEO of Medtronic, remarked that the corporate world has since learned to keep its criticisms of the 47th president of the United States under wraps out of fear of retribution. He said he was "struck by how fearful people are and how unwilling they are to speak out," adding that executives "don’t want to get on the wrong side of the president and his constituents."
He went on to lament the new uncertain economic climate that has taken hold in Trump's second term, which has lately seen financial markets dip precipitously this week as investors fear a trade war. He said companies are worried that outbursts from Trump could end up hurting their bottom line,, leading some to consider moves to curry favor with the regime in order to be spared from his wrath.
“The mood has totally changed,” George said. “What you’re hearing publicly is not what you’re going to hear privately.”
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