Trump’s influence dominated every dinner conversation at the World Economic Forum in Davos this year – both formal and informal.
“What could go wrong?” One Trump insider told us somewhat sarcastically after a panel discussion on technology.
Loosely, two days into his second presidency, Trump’s effect can be summed up as unbridled levels of excitement by executives about the future of American business that ignores potential downsides.
Tariff concerns? No problem! This will be offset by explosive growth in the United States. Trade war with Europe? No problem! More things will be made in the United States at a cheaper price. Deficits, 10-year price hikes, and tariff-induced inflation?
No problem! The stock market has reached record highs, making people feel richer and encouraging them to spend — even if not everyone is invested in the market.
Trump unleashed a historic wave of executive orders and actions on Monday that included several areas of concern to investors and companies. They include activating a national energy emergency designed to stimulate domestic energy production, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords, and a regulatory freeze.
Bank executives were enthusiastic. His policies create a “very pro-business environment,” said Mary Callahan Erdos, head of asset and wealth management at JPMorgan, noting that “animal instincts” are still alive and they hope for a lighter regulatory touch that will boost lending and fuel economic growth.
JPMorgan created a “war room” to scrutinize all new policies issued by the president on his first day in office.
“They’ve been up all night working on it,” Erdos responded Tuesday morning about how JPMorgan views the impact of Trump’s policies on the economy.
Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America (BAC), also joined the optimism about Trump’s influence, striking an upbeat note in an interview with Yahoo Finance (video above) about financial regulation and cryptocurrencies — a shift in mood for Moynihan since the last time we spoke in Davos. 2022.
Cryptocurrencies, like everything else, have played a major role so far in Davos, as business leaders look to capitalize on whatever policies the most crypto-friendly president ever will implement.
“He really wants to be the first Bitcoin president,” said Coinbase (COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong, who is attending Davos for the first time, which says a lot about the current cryptocurrency moment. Armstrong met with Trump before and after the election to defend the cryptocurrency industry, including the Strategic Reserve.
So far, Trump has appointed crypto advocate Paul Atkins to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, and venture capitalist and former PayPal (PYPL) CEO David Sachs as chief AI and cryptocurrency officer, which are good signs, the industry believes. .
