US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he signs an executive order related to the Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on January 20, 2025.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
Richard Edelman, Edelman
“I think Trump gives America a really good chance to revive its animal spirit. There will be less regulation, there will be more energy supply, there will be more sense that markets are working and [less] regulation, and I think Trump is a shot in the arm for business. But I think business has to work through how to balance other stakeholders, employees and others on issues like DEI, sustainability [and so on]”, he said.
Steven van Rijswijk, ING
On Trump’s inauguration: “I think it’s also a wake-up call for Europe. I think Europe also needs to really focus on the economy and growth.”
“We have to become more competitive. We have to have higher labor productivity. We have to invest more in artificial intelligence, we have to invest in the Capital Markets Union to, say, improve the flow of capital in Europe. So I think many of the things that he [Trump] he says, to a certain extent they also apply to Europe, and Europe’s focus should be on the competitiveness of this region, and that will help the entire local society as well,” he added.
Sander van’t Noordende, Randstad
Asked if the “merit-based system” touted by Trump and his mission undoing DEI initiativeswere a welcome change, van’t Noordende replied, “No, not at all.”
“Some companies are pulling back parts of their DEI programs… Most companies I talk to are continuing and staying the course. Why? Because it’s good for business. The workplace in the United States is a high-trust environment. [Our research shows] 85% of people in the US trust their employer. Employers don’t want to put that trust at risk,” he added.
Mario Greco, Zurich Insurance
“We have to admit that the Paris Agreement has not delivered any of the plans, ambitions, goals that were expected. It is also true that we are looking for other ways to achieve the much-needed reduction in temperature. I think technology should help, but not [I] don’t think this is a big event,” he said.
Vas Narasimhan, Novartis
On Trump’s pick for Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Narasimhan said, “We have a challenge right now because, on the one hand, we have the head of HHS [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] who outwardly said some rather anti-scientific statements. And yet, we must work constructively with this administration to achieve policy changes that matter to our industry, while still advocating for vaccines, advocating for science.”
“Our conversations with management have actually been very positive. Obviously there are areas of disagreement, but I think this will actually be a better environment for us than the past four years,” he added.
CNBC reached out to RFK Jr.’s campaign group for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
Kirill Dmitriev, Russian Direct Investment Fund
