They wanted to turn the page but faced with the evidence, America's billionaires and heads of major companies are preparing to accept the return of Donald Trump. This is what emerged from reporting conducted in Davos by CNBC, which noted the contrast between worried European bosses and their American counterparts, who are emphasizing the weak domestic power of the US president.
The most notable is billionaire Jamie Dimon, long-term CEO of J.P. Morgan, who had some particularly amiable words for Trump: "Take a step back, be honest. He was kind of right about NATO, kind of right on immigration. He grew the economy quite well. Trade tax reform worked. He was right about some of China," Dimon said on CNBC.
"I don't like how he said things about Mexico (...) but he wasn't wrong about some of these critical issues, and that's why they're voting for him." He added that he would survive the election of either Trump or Joe Biden: "I will be prepared for both. We will deal with both. My company will survive and thrive in both."
Dimon laid into Biden's campaign, which has been accused of denigrating Trump voters and "scapegoating" them: "Can we (...) treat other people respectfully and listen to them a little bit? (...) I think this negative talk about MAGA is going to hurt Biden’s election campaign." In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost credibility by calling Trump voters "deplorables."
This flip-flopping is all the more significant given that Dimon had been invited by his peers, like billionaire financier Bill Ackman, to run for president to break the expected Trump-Biden duel.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff believes the election won't be a revolution. "But the reality is, hey, we are the same company, regardless of when that election is going to occur. And regardless of who that president will be," he told Bloomberg. On condition of anonymity, a top executive explained to CNBC the reasons for the gap in evaluation between Europeans and Americans: "I'm not sure Europeans understand how weak executive orders are. We have a justice system. Congress will probably be divided. It's right to be cautious, but it won't be the end of the world."
The US president, also known as the commander-in-chief, can do a lot of damage on the international stage, but much less at home. Trump's election was greeted by a surge on Wall Street and followed by tax cuts.
The billionaires who were backing Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations and governor of South Carolina, are waiting for the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday, January 23, to find out if she still has a chance and deserves support. "If she doesn't get traction in New Hampshire, you don't throw money down a rat hole," Ken Langone, co-founder of the Home Depot chain, told the Financial Times.
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