According to Yale management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, dubbed the “CEO whisperer,” business executives are significantly more concerned about President Donald Trump’s threat to democracy than they are about any one economic policy.
As per Sonnenfeld, president of Yale’s Chief Executive Leadership Institute, between 70% to 75% of the CEOs who attend his CEO meetings are Republicans, he told CNN’s “Newsroom” on Monday. However, he pointed out that over 80% of those company executives express disappointment with the state of the economy under Trump.
The CEOs even said that Trump’s administration isn’t working and his policies are failing as well. In order to achieve short-term gains, business leaders at the roundtable fear that Trump is destroying an economic system that took decades to establish. The economy has long benefited the United States more than any other nation, under both Republican and Democratic governments.
They stated in this free-to-speak setting (a contentious issue these days) that although they support relocating manufacturing to the United States and enhancing economic and national security, they are concerned about America’s reputation abroad. This is mainly due to the deterioration of national security at the Pentagon, the CIA, and the FBI.
Reporter: Business leaders are warning that recent moves by Trump like tariffs, publicly pressuring the Fed to slash interest rates, and threatening media companies for criticizing him could have a serious impact on the economy. Our CEO groups, who are around 75% Republican, tell… pic.twitter.com/BmLDxUiG8u
— FactPost (@factpostnews) September 22, 2025
According to two-thirds of the CEOs polled at the event, U.S. tariffs have hurt their companies. They estimate that domestic businesses and American consumers have split 80% of the tariffs equally, with international competitors bearing the remaining portion.
One CEO of a major U.S. manufacturing company explained to the group: “If the U.S. government wants to help protect certain industries, they need to help those industries be successful. It is not just putting a bunch of tariffs in place and assuming those industries are going to get moved to the U.S. There have to be incentives …
“Make America Into America Again”? That’s code for: “Please, someone restore basic competence.” Even U.S. CEOs Are Begging for It😅
Just read the Fortune piece (https://t.co/ChFMmQhiVY) where over 100 top American CEOs (mostly Republicans, mind you) gathered under Chatham House… pic.twitter.com/57MEk74Ndl
— StarBoySAR 🇭🇰 🇨🇳 🥭 (@StarboySAR) September 22, 2025
“Consumers want products to be low-cost … power tools, hand tools, clothing, sneakers … Does it really make sense to be manufacturing all that in the United States? I do not believe it does. I believe there are certain industries where it does make sense … but it is not realistic to expect every industry in the world to be manufacturing products in the U.S. for the U.S.”
“While we want a level playing field and support the president’s goals in that regard,” a prominent business leader with a large manufacturing footprint in the U.S. and overseas told the group. Their company can only offset some of the tariff-related cost increases through operating efficiencies and tax benefits from the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
The group murmured in agreement as they noted that, for the time being, the costs of tariffs still far outweigh the advantages offered by the Trump administration.
