We just hosted a large gathering of top CEOs, primarily Republicans, and you might be surprised by what we heard. While many of them have been willing to support the president out of patriotic duty—and dismay over some Democratic policies—they are increasingly questioning who truly stands to benefit from the maelstrom of chaos, fear, and confusion that he has intentionally created.
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.
