CEOs push for patience with Trump
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President Trump talks with Chuck Robbins, Cisco CEO and Business Roundtable chair, at The Wharf in D.C. on Tuesday. Photo Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
David Solomon — Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO — said after President Trump's visit to the Business Roundtable this week that "the business community understands what the president is trying to do with tariffs."
- "The business community is always going to want lower tariffs ... everywhere in the world," Solomon told Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday. "At the moment, there is some uncertainty — the market is digesting that."
Solomon told Bartiromo that Trump projected a "sense of optimism" during his closed-door remarks Tuesday to the biggest-ever meeting of the BRT, made up of the CEOs of America's largest companies.
- Solomon, whose firm manages or supervises trillions of dollars in assets, praised the administration for being "engaged with the business community. ... That's a different experience than what we've had over the course of the last four years."
- He said business wants to see "more specific actions on the regulatory front to unleash more animal spirits. ... My expectation is you will see, as you get through the year, a pickup in activity across both the capital markets and M&A."
One CEO in the room for Trump's remarks told Mike: "Let's slow down and have a little perspective. We may not like how fast this is going, and have real concerns. But let's play a long game."
- The CEO told us that amid the current uncertainty, many BRT members are medium-term and long-term optimistic that Trump policies will encourage capital spending, economic growth and consumer activity.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke to BRT on Wednesday, emphasizing the Trump administration's commitment to reinvigorating U.S. capital markets and stock-launch (IPO) activity, and the importance of making Trump's tax cuts permanent.
🥊 Reality check: A front-page story in today's Wall Street Journal is headlined, "CEO Frustrations With Trump Over Trade Mount — in Private."
- Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a well-known professor at Yale School of Management, who organized a CEO Caucus in Washington on Tuesday, said he heard "universal revulsion against the Trump economic policies ... They're also especially horrified about Canada."
- Trump has been dismissive of CEOs' concerns about tariff uncertainty. Last weekend, he told Bartiromo they had "plenty of clarity."
Stephen Schwarzman — chairman, CEO and co-founder of Blackstone, and a top Trump donor — told reporters in India yesterday that the tariffs would, "at the end of the day," lead to a significant increase in manufacturing activity in the U.S., the Financial Times reports ($).
- "Given the size of the U.S., that tends to be a good thing for the world," Schwarzman said.
Solomon added that tariffs are getting the headlines, but CEOs "are excited about some of the tailwinds ... the move to lower regulation. Regulation has been a significant headwind to growth in investment."
- "Tax policy is going to be a big discussion as we move forward, energy policy," he said. "The more we can have certainty on the policy agenda ... the better that is going to support capital investment and growth."
Solomon concluded his Fox interview: "When there's change, there's uncertainty — it takes a while for people to absorb and adopt. But I continue to be incredibly optimistic about the United States and the direction of travel. We have an incredibly nimble and versatile economy."
- Go deeper: Watch Solomon's video.
