One Month into Trump Presidency
The good, bad and puzzling
Corporate leaders and investors expected a bit of volatility to accompany President Trump’s second term. The good, bad and puzzling
Corporate leaders and investors expected a bit of volatility to accompany President Trump’s second term. He has waged a war on diversity, equality and inclusion programs and more and more businesses have fallen in line. The I.R.S. has the latest news on this. The Washington Post reports that Trump plans to take over the U.S. Postal Service. The Washington Post reports that Trump is considering taking over the U.S. Postal Service.
But, there are many things that business leaders and other people are trying to figure:Where exactly does Trump stand on tariffs. He has spoken of a potential wide-ranging trade deal with China, even as he threatens Europe with huge levies.
Trump’s position on Ukraine is increasingly unclear, as he publicly embraces Russia and castigates Kyiv and Europe. The Federal Trade Commission’s new chief is weighing a scrutiny of Big Tech over censorship concerns, despite efforts by tech companies like Meta to forge closer ties to Trump. And despite efforts by tech companies like Meta to forge closer ties to Trump, the Federal Trade Commission’s new chief is weighing a scrutiny of Big Tech over censorship concerns.
Trump’s efforts to gain more control over independent agencies may reach further into the Fed, with Musk vaguely promising an audit of the central bank.
-
The president’s floating of potentially inflationary taxpayer payouts, funded by Musk’s government cost-cutting (whose true extent appears to change frequently), is drawing lukewarm support from congressional Republicans.
-
Trump’s legislative agenda is in limbo, with the president splitting Republican lawmakers over matters like the budget.
-
For now, corporate America appears to be along for the ride.
-
A new survey by the Conference Board found that C.E.O. confidence recently reached a three-year peak, reflecting “confident optimism.”
-
Whether that will persist — Americans appear increasingly worried about rising inflation and the Musk cost-cutting — remains to be seen. Stay tuned.
-
HERE’S WHAT’S HAPPENING
Mayor Eric Adams of New York City wins a partial reprieve. Gov. Kathy Hochul has said that, for the time being, she will not remove him from office. However, she will seek to limit his power after allegations that he made a deal with Trump’s administration that resulted in the Justice Department dropping the corruption charges against him. The Financial Times reports that the group is led by former Tesla board member Hiro Mizouno, who views Elon Musk’s firm as a possible partner to help the struggling Japanese carmaker after its merger negotiations with Honda failed. Tesla is thought to covet Nissan’s auto plants in the United States.
Senator Elizabeth Warren urges the Justice Department to investigate the Disney-Fubo deal. Variety reports that the Massachusetts Democrat argues Disney’s bid to acquire a controlling stake of the streaming service, “raises substantial” antitrust concerns which could harm consumers. In other media deals: ESPN has ended its long-running media rights partnership with Major League Baseball.
Deal makers in Miami warm to Trump and the Saudis
The FII Priority conference this week has so far accomplished plenty for its Saudi hosts and for business leaders eager to see and hear President Trump up close.But Trump’s speech — and his first month in office — has also raised big questions.
The good: As a salesman, Trump impressed deal makers with his oratory abilities — using his speech to rattle off the savings he said he found through Elon Musk’s cost-cutting efforts. Many noted that Trump’s presence at the conference was an indication that he wanted to make deals. The crowd was, as one executive in attendance said, “entranced.”
The not so good: Some executives acknowledged that the volatility had made it harder to do deals than expected. Others said it was too early to judge. One questioned why Trump focused so much of his speech on inviting foreign investment into the United States but seemingly took for granted that “the Americans would invest in the U.S.” And another said there was real concern that “drill baby drill” could be the wrong approach — a notable aside at a conference hosted by the Saudis.
Who showed up?
Safra Catz, Oracle’s C.E.O., made her first appearance at the conference.
The venture capitalist Ben Horowitz was onstage, proclaiming his firm never rolled out diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Ken Griffin of Citadel, a Miami mainstay, spoke too.Serena Williams and Lance Armstrong were in tow, representing the athlete turned investor set, as was Portia Archer of the W.T.A. The women’s professional Tennis League was present for the first time, less than a month after it announced a partnership with the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Portia Archer of the W.T.A. and Serena Williams were also in attendance. DealBook was told that they just ran into each other. Yasir Al-Rumayyan the governor of the Saudi wealth fund was supposed to give opening remarks on Wednesday, but he had to fly to Washington. He was at the White House trying to make progress on the long awaited deal between LIV and the PGA Tour.
Al-Rumayyan made it back in time to host a huge dinner at Queen Miami Beach, a thumping, nightclub-style Japanese restaurant. As he walked into dinner, he told DealBook the meeting with Trump was “good.”Inside, sushi, steak and avocado caviar slices were in abundance. On the giant screens overhead were rotating images of some of executives and the Saudi investment fund’s big allies: Ray Dalio, Steve Schwarzman of Blackstone, and Jared Kushner.
The Saudi presence in Florida will soon be year-round, as the kingdom chose Miami to be its second U.S. investment hub.
-
On Friday’s agenda:
-
Al-Rumayyan will be in conversation with Eric Schmidt; the financier and New York Mets owner Steve Cohen will speak about the future of sports; and Uber’s Dara Khosrowshahi will discuss the future of autonomous transportation.
-
James Bond lives … at Amazon
-
Jeff Bezos and Amazon finally got the rights to make all of the James Bond films they want.
The terms weren’t disclosed, but given the bitter three-year dispute between Amazon and the Broccoli family, which controlled the Bond intellectual property, it’s no doubt a big number, DealBook’s Edmund Lee explains.The move shows that Amazon is serious about turning its Prime streaming venture into a bona fide Hollywood business
— and not just a way to sell more stuff. Bezos,
an avowed TV and film fanatic, said in 2016: “When we win a Golden Globe, it helps us sell more shoes in a very direct way.”
Recap:
Amazon spent $8.5 billion to buy MGM Studios in 2022. The deal was viewed as a high-priced wager on one property: James Bond. After adjusting for inflation, the film has earned more than $6 billion in domestic box office. MGM had already sold a large part of its film collection and studio lot by then, so Amazon was effectively paying to distribute Bond movies. But there was a problem. Remember that Amazon only had distribution rights and not creative control. It’s been three years since “No Time to Die” hit theaters and the $8.5 billion seemed like an overreach. Barbara Broccoli called Amazon executives “idiots” in a juicy Wall Street Journal article from December. Expect spin-offs. Imagine a young M rising through the ranks of MI6. What about the other agents? Where’s 005? 009? There are a lot of three-digit spy characters.
It’s part of the streaming playbook. Buy I.P., then pump out as many films and shows as possible to keep subscribers glued to the service. Paramount+ did this with “Star Trek,” while Disney+ has so many spinoffs of “Star Wars” that it’s difficult to keep track. Amazon Prime paid more than $700,000,000 for the first season of a prequel to “Lord of the Rings”. Bezos has already started soliciting ideas for the next Bond. DealBook wants an aging Bond, someone at the end of his career reassessing all of his missions — think Idris Elba or Gary Oldman.
THE SPEED READ
Deals
The meme-stock investor Ryan Cohen has grown his stake in Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant, to roughly $1 billion. (WSJ)
Shares of Celsius Holdings surged in premarket trade after the energy drink maker announced it would purchase a competitor, Alani Nu for $1.8 billion cash and stock. (Bloomberg)Politics, policy and regulationBest of the restWe’d like your feedback! Please email thoughts and suggestions to dealbook@nytimes.com.
