Trump euphoria fades quickly for CEOs and bankers as they issue stern warning to Americans
But it appears that, weeks into his presidency, much of that enthusiasm is fading.
Major U-turns on tariffs last week, alongside expectations of rising
inflation, are rattling some business leaders, who are unsure about what could happen next.
The deals market just ended its quietest January in a decade,
The Wall Street Journal reported.
And executives have begun to use words such as 'fragility', 'volatility' and 'wait and see' to describe their outlooks for businesses.
'Nobody knows what's up,' Nick Pinchuk, chief executive of toolmaker Snap-on, said on a conference call last week.
'It's like being on Space Mountain at Disney World.
'You get on Space Mountain, you get in a car, and you're in the dark and the cars go left and right, left and right and abrupt turns, you don't know where you're going, but you know, you're pretty confident that you're going to get to the right place at the bottom.'
Business leaders are rattled by Trump's U-turns on tariffs last week
Billionaire executives, such as hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, endorsed Trump in his presidential campaign.
And any business leaders and Wall Street investors celebrated Trump's victory in the presidential election, due to optimism around his
promise of a pro-growth and pro-business administration.
The president-elect at the time
received a hero's welcome at the New York Stock Exchange when he visited in December.
The S&P 500, which tracks the 500 biggest companies in the US, hit record highs last month, as the so-called 'Trump rally' gathered pace.
But Trump's U-turn on tariffs last week has dented some business leaders' confidence.
He announced that he was
implementing 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, only to delay both for a month a few days later.
A number of executives, as well as top investment bankers and other industry advisers, told The Wall Street Journal that their priorities have shifted in recent days to dealing with tariffs and policy issues.
They said they needed to work out their supply routes if the promised tariffs do come into effect, as well as figuring out if they
need to raise their prices.
This, in turn, does not leave much space for thinking about deals.
Less than 900 deals were announced in the US in January, according to data from LSEG. That is compared to 1,200 deals last January, and over 1,500 in 2023.
The president-elect at the time received a hero's welcome at the New York Stock Exchange when he visited in December
Many business executives were thrilled at the prospect of a pro-growth administration when Donald Trump won the presidential election last year, but the enthusiasm is fading for some
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum successfully negotiated a deal for a one-month reprieve from tariffs last week
David Galullo, CEO of the San Francisco design firm Rapt Studio, said he tried to remain positive about the new President's early days, despite not having voted for him.
But he said he has been left concerned by Trump's first weeks in power.
He is planning to address his team, but he is at a loss for words because so much is happening so quickly.
'I don't know what to say,' he told The Wall Street Journal.
However there are also some CEOs who are eager to do deals, even if their counterparts may not be.
There were six hostile or unsolicited deals announced in January, a level not seen in a month since May 2018, LSEG data revealed.
Some executives remain optimistic about the year as a whole, and predict there could be more deals than in recent years.
'The much anticipated M&A tsunami of 2025 has yet to make landfall, but the conditions are all still ripe for that to arrive later this year,' Jim Langston, an M&A partner at the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, told The Wall Street Journal.
He added that while the past month has been unpredictable, historically M&A activity does not increase after a presidential inauguration until the start of the second quarter.
Trump euphoria fades quickly for CEOs and bankers as they issue stern warning to Americans
things about US I don't care for. Mass shootings, intolerance towards different people etc. On our side, everyone seems almost brainwashed. For example, if I complain I don't see cops on 400 series highway, people tell me what is your problem. Sit down, or if you don't like it leave the country. Same with things like carjacking, break-ins, corporation playing Monopolies like cell phones are only few problems here. But no, don't ask questions. Whistle blower is the trouble maker. Lets just pay taxes through our ass and make corporations rich. I am tempted by the idea of becoming US.
