Change at the top of the government brings changes in who business supports…
Republicans should not be surprised with this…
It was the way Donald Trump did his politics….
Business IS BUSINESS….
Politics comes way down on the list….
Early in Mr. Trump’s tenure, dozens of business leaders joined a pair of presidential advisory councils. Eager to have a seat at the table and sway policies to their liking, blue-chip chief executives set aside their reservations about Mr. Trump’s character failings, his history of racist behavior, the allegations of sexual assault against him and his declarations of legal impunity.
“He is the president of the United States. I believe he is the pilot flying our airplane,” Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan, said at the time. “I would try to help any president of the United States because I’m a patriot.”
The effort didn’t last long. Months after the groups were formed, they disbanded following Mr. Trump’s insistence that there were “very fine people on both sides” during a spasm of white nationalist violence in Charlottesville, Va.
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But money has a short memory, and it wasn’t long after Charlottesville that Mr. Trump was back in the good graces of corporate America. Just months later, the Trump administration passed a tax overhaul that delivered a windfall to corporations and wealthy individuals.
By lowering corporate taxes, Mr. Trump delivered the business community one of its most coveted prizes, and business leaders lined up to support the effort….
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“The Trump tax cut was fool’s gold,” Howard Schultz, the former chief executive of Starbucks, said Thursday. “People were seduced, and unfortunately decided for their own benefits and the benefits of their company, that this was the right thing to do.”..
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On Wednesday, many chief executives had, once again, had enough. The National Association of Manufacturers called on Vice President Mike Pence to consider invoking the 25th Amendment of the Constitution and remove Mr. Trump from office. Many executives — including Mr. Cook of Apple, Mr. Dimon of JPMorgan and Mr. Schwarzman — denounced the violence, lamented the state of the country and called for accountability.
But after four years of much talk but little action, their words rang hollow….
image…Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times