Businessmen rush to 'appear' for Mr. Trump

Regardless of previous support or opposition, many top US CEOs, for their own calculations, actively sought to meet Mr. Trump before his official inauguration.

US President-elect Donald Trump rings the bell to start trading at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the morning of December 12 - Photo: AFP

Despite being a longtime donor to the Democratic Party, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos on December 17 also became one of the next American business leaders to have a private meeting with Mr. Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Lago estate.

Like Mr. Sarandos, many business leaders from Hollywood, Silicon Valley to Wall Street have tried to arrange meetings to build relationships with the Trump administration since his victory, according to the Financial Times .

Express goodwill

"In my first term, everyone was against me. This term, everyone wants to be my friend," Mr. Trump told reporters earlier this week. He mentioned dinners and meetings with CEOs, asserting: "I've had dinner with most of them, and the rest are on their way."

Indeed, the media has recorded that recently the US president-elect has met with top leaders in many fields such as Tim Cook (CEO Apple), Sam Altman (CEO OpenAI), Mark Zuckerberg (CEO Meta), Masayoshi Son (CEO SoftBank) and Jeff Bezos (owner of Amazon).

These CEOs are all trying to improve their businesses' standing in the eyes of Mr. Trump, before he officially takes office in January 2025.

Not stopping at meeting, they also sought to impress Mr. Trump with huge donations for the inauguration. After Meta announced a $1 million donation, Amazon also announced it would contribute another $1 million and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman planned to personally contribute $1 million.

"I don't know, maybe my personality changed or something," Mr. Trump joked.

Commenting on this phenomenon, Mr. Trump's senior advisor Jason Miller said that CEOs are showing goodwill to cooperate with the new administration, even though they did not support Mr. Trump politically in the past. "There will be more domestic and international CEOs in the coming time," Mr. Miller said.

Technology industry representative, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff commented that the new Trump administration seems to be more concerned with the industry's core issues than the current administration of Joe Biden.

"If we harness the power and expertise of America's best people to create the best for the country, that would be a great vision," Mr. Benioff said, referring to billionaire Elon Musk's involvement in the Trump administration.

Lobbying efforts

CEOs obviously have their own motives for meeting with Mr. Trump. According to CNN sources, Mr. Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on December 16. Mr. Shou is said to be seeking support from Mr. Trump in the context that Bytedance, TikTok's parent company, must divest from the US by January 19, 2025, just one day before Mr. Trump officially takes office.

Meanwhile, leaders of major technology corporations such as Apple, Google and Meta have sought to meet with Mr. Trump in the hope of operating in a more favorable legal environment. Many businesses also believe that Mr. Trump will reverse Mr. Biden’s policies, especially on tax and antitrust issues.

Adviser Jason Miller said the new administration would move quickly to eliminate many regulations, including expanding oil and gas exploration and cutting taxes, to improve the business environment - exactly what CEOs are looking for when they meet with Mr. Trump.

The Trump administration is interested in AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is also a major concern for tech companies as they await policy from the new administration. Companies are calling on the US government to abandon its tightening of existing copyright laws because this could hinder the use of public data to train AI systems.

Mr. Trump once announced that he would cancel the AI ​​executive order that President Biden signed in 2023, pledging to protect people's rights and safety but not hinder technological innovation.

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Trump's nominee to lead the Department of the Interior , said in November that the AI ​​race affects everything from defense, health care, education to national productivity.

"The AI ​​technology that will be introduced in the next 18 months will be revolutionary. So the Trump administration clearly understands the urgency and has the knowledge to solve this problem," ABC News quoted Mr. Doug Burgum.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/gioi-doanh-nhan-hoi-ha-trinh-dien-ong-trump-20241219080707274.htm