U.S. executives see a Trump victory in 2024

DAVOS, Switzerland — International enterprise leaders could also be within the snowy hills of Switzerland, however their conversations maintain returning to Washington, D.C.

The subject of Donald Trump has dominated dinners and events at Davos, with many in attendance on the World Financial Discussion board mulling the previous president’s potential return to the White Home after his resounding Iowa caucus victory.

A number of enterprise executives have famous a theme to their non-public discussions throughout the summit: U.S. business leaders appear overwhelmingly nonplussed with a second Trump time period, whereas international chief executives are terrified — notably of restrictions on immigration and potential world conflicts.

One distinguished U.S. enterprise government, who requested to not be named as a result of his discussions with international leaders had been non-public, stated among the worry could also be because of a lack of information of the checks and balances constructed into the U.S. authorities.

“I’m not sure Europeans understand how weak executive orders are,” that individual stated. “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.”

One other U.S. financial institution CEO privately expressed annoyance with media exaggeration of the specter of a Trump presidency, stressing he is “all bark and no bite.” The financial institution chief additionally dismissed Trump’s refusal to just accept the outcomes of the 2020 election as bloviation.

“He’s going to win the presidency,” the CEO predicted. “Many of his policies were right.”

Whereas JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon would not predict a Trump victory, he echoed his fellow financial institution CEO’s feedback in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday.

“Just take a step back, and be honest. He was kind of right about NATO. He was kind of right about immigration, he grew the economy quite well. Trade. Tax reform worked. He was right about some of China,” stated Dimon. “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.”

Nonetheless, whereas Dimon additionally echoed the sentiment that an apocalypse is unlikely, he did observe he hopes “the country survives” with both the reelection of Biden or the return of Trump to the White Home, at the same time as some fear American democracy would be threatened by his return.

“I will be prepared for both, we will deal with both, my company will survive and thrive in both,” Dimon stated.

One accomplice at a big world non-public fairness agency stated privately he is been stunned by the dearth of concern amongst U.S. executives given Trump’s refusal to just accept his election defeat in 2020 and the next U.S. Capitol riot of January 6, 2021.

One other former Trump administration official stated there’s extra cause for concern this time round as a result of most of the those that saved Trump’s damaging urges in examine will not be working with him if he returns to workplace.

Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman expressed one other widespread theme amongst executives — that each Trump and U.S. president Joe Biden are flawed selections.

“I think we have an interesting presidential election now, where there are very high negatives, as you know, for both candidates,” Schwarzman stated, including he is ready to see how issues play out. “I’m not into the hypothetical world yet as much as you’d like me to be. And we’ll see what happens. There are always surprises in these elections.”

Ben Smith, cofounder of enterprise information outlet Semafor, advised CNBC Thursday he is heard from many at Davos that Trump is more likely to win.

“This year it is an absolute item of faith that Donald Trump will be elected President of the United States, which I think is great news for Joe Biden,” Smith stated in an interview with “Squawk Box.”

A number of Davos attendees famous that predictions made on the World Financial Discussion board have traditionally turned out false, together with previous feedback about recession outlooks and the chance of Trump profitable the presidency in 2016.

“Obviously the U.S. government is a large customer of Salesforce, and depending on who’s in office creates a whole stir with a different part of our employee base,” stated Marc Benioff, Salesforce‘s CEO, in an interview on Tuesday with Bloomberg’s Brad Stone. “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.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, who additionally spoke with Stone, expressed related sentiments.

“I think elections are, you know, huge deals. I believe that America is gonna be fine,” Altman stated. “No matter what happens in this election.”

Nasdaq CEO Adena Friedman stated it is just too early to deal with what Trump might or might not imply for the nation this time round.

“Honestly, I think they need to see how the primaries shake out,” Friedman stated.

WATCH: Jamie Dimon’s full interview with CNBC’s Squawk Field