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Corporate giants back down as Donald Trump election win in prospect

This time around, compliance risks becoming a calculated bet on the rise of authoritarianism

Former president Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, arrives to speak at a campaign event in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Photograph: Doug Mills/The New York Times
Former president Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, arrives to speak at a campaign event in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Photograph: Doug Mills/The New York Times
Proinsias O'Mahony's picture
Proinsias O'Mahony
Sun Nov 03 2024 - 06:15

Corporate leaders are increasingly prepared to bow the knee under a second Donald Trump presidency.

Last week’s Stocktake column noted billionaires are wary of upsetting Trump, as indicated by Warren Buffett and JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon – both long-time Democrats – refusing to say who they are supporting in the presidential election.

Since then, the Los Angeles Times, owned by biotech billionaire Dr Patrick Soon-Shiong, and the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post have declined to endorse a candidate – two striking decisions, given both editorial boards had prepared endorsements for Kamala Harris. Both papers have traditionally been trenchant critics of Trump, particularly the Post, which is famous for its “Democracy Dies in Darkness” slogan.

In early 2016, Trump warned Amazon and Bezos that “they’re going to have such problems” if he became president. In 2018 he went on a tweetstorm that briefly erased $75 billion (€69 billion) in Amazon’s market value.

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Recently, Trump threatened Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, saying if he did anything “illegal” he would “spend the rest of his life in prison”. Zuckerberg got the message; Trump likes him “much better now” as he is “staying out of the election”.

“Do not obey in advance,” is the first lesson mentioned by Yale historian Timothy Snyder in his bestselling book On Tyranny. “Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given”, he says, with moves such as Bezos’s smacking of what Snyder describes as “anticipatory obedience”.

In 2019, Apple chief executive Tim Cook gifted Trump a $6,000 Mac Pro after he lowered tariffs on parts Apple needed from China. A little flattery has traditionally gone a long way with Trump, but this time, compliance risks becoming a calculated bet on authoritarianism’s rise.

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