How CEOs deal with Trump: Praise, face time, remorse, and gifts made of gold all go a long way, experience shows
The big story: Trump's imminent meeting with Putin.
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Good morning. Over the past several months, I've noticed anecdotally that more global CEOs seem eager to meet with me in Washington or New York. The leader of one multinational admitted that my newfound popularity with his team was by design. It's important to come to the U.S., he told me, and to be more visible while doing it. Some leaders come to announce new investments or new factories to build products in the U.S.; others prefer to meet with peers and policymakers through Fortune gatherings while staying below the radar for coverage. What unites them is a desire to thrive in the tricky tariff era of Donald Trump.
The president has made it clear that his priority is to rack up domestic wins, but it's not always clear who's playing for Team America, in his view. Intel's new CEO Lip-Bu Tan experienced that for himself when he was vilified by Trump in a Truth Social post last Thursday as 'highly CONFLICTED' because of past investments in Chinese companies. The president urged him to resign. On Monday, the president actually met Tan and did a prompt turnabout, praising the Malaysian-born American citizen as an impressive leader with 'an amazing story.'
What changed? Face time, for one thing. Determined to clear up what he described in a company letter as 'a lot of misinformation,' Tan made a quick trip to the White House to talk about his 40-plus years of living, investing and innovating in the U.S. Judging from Trump's comments and Intel's statement, Tan also talked about his company's current and future investments in making America great (again?).
Many CEOs have come to appreciate the need to develop a good rapport with the president and the power of public gestures of support. Apple CEO Tim Cook gave Trump a customized glass plaque mounted on a 24-karat gold stand last week, when he announced his company's $100 billion investment in domestic production. OpenAI's Sam Altman expressed remorse at falling into the 'non-playable character' trap by criticizing Trump, announcing earlier this year that he'd developed a more positive view of POTUS after seeing him in action. And of course, Elon Musk's relationship with Trump has run hot and cold in public, with subsequent impacts on his businesses.
Will the president's praise for Intel's Tan help the struggling chipmaker regain the ground it lost to rivals like Nvidia and AMD in recent years? It can't hurt. It certainly beats incurring his wrath.Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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