Why are CEOs having second thoughts about Trump?

America's CEOs and billionaires climbed on the Trump bandwagon during the 2024 presidential campaign. A month after the inauguration, some of them are looking to climb off.

"CEO optimism is fading" as trade restrictions and mass government layoffs threaten the economy, said Semafor. The stock market has dropped since President Donald Trump took office, while both consumer confidence and consumer spending dropped in January. Trump's on-again-off-again tariff threats have made it impossible for business leaders to make plans. "You can't move a factory overnight," said ON Semiconductor CEO Hassane El-Khoury. That's why American business leaders are "turning on Trump — fast," said Semafor.

It took just a month for the new administration to "cool the enthusiasm of chief executives and dealmakers," said The Wall Street Journal. The uncertain environment is making corporate leaders hesitant to pull the trigger on big deals. For that to turn around, "CEOs will need to find more comfort than they have today."

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What did the commentators say?

"There's a pretty clear sentiment in America's corporate world these days: anxiety," said Emily Stewart at Business Insider. Trump's reputation as a "loose cannon" may give him an advantage in some negotiations, but businesses find it "challenging to navigate." Businesses are "benefiting from plenty of Trump's actions" — the president halted enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars U.S. companies from bribing foreign officials. But overall, corporate leaders are finding the new administration a "chaotic time," said Nick Nigro of Atlas Public Policy to Insider. There are "so many surprises that are happening on a weekly basis."

"Don't expect corporations to save us from Trump," said Robert Kuttner at The American Prospect. It's only been a few weeks since Meta, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Uber, Toyota, Apple's Tim Cook, and OpenAI chief Sam Altman all "donated $1 million to the Trump inauguration." Rebuilding democracy will require the efforts of regular people, not corporations, and the effort "requires containing both Trumpism and predatory capitalism."

What next?

Not everybody is nervous. One measure of CEO confidence has "soared to its highest level in three years," said Newsweek. The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence "rose significantly" in 2025's first quarter. That's because executives "anticipate business-friendly policies from the new administration, including regulatory and tax changes." Brian Marks, executive director of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program at the University of New Haven, said the reading may be "premature." This early in the new administration is "too soon to fully assess the situation."

Others are more downbeat. "There's more uncertainty than I think is widely appreciated," said Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute to The New York Times. The chaos unleashed by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency is creating a "chilling effect on investment plans and expansion plans," Strain said. Even the president's allies are cautious. The economy is showing signs of "slower growth and higher inflation," said Fox Business host Larry Kudlow, a business adviser during the first Trump administration. "Not good."