For CEOs and CEO aspirants, establishing or strengthening direct relationships with the White House will be even more important during the next presidential term, as evidenced by the wave of tech executives kneeling before President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration.
For example, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited Mar-a-Lago during Thanksgiving week in an attempt to mend his strained relationship with the president-elect, who has long criticized the technocrats’ social media platform.
He’s not alone. CEOs such as Google’s Sundar Pichai and Amazon’s Andy Jassy — as well as founder Jeff Bezos — have reached out to President-elect Trump, seeking to establish early engagement to discuss priorities, align strategies, and secure positive outcomes.
This approach reflects the playbook of Apple CEO Tim Cook. Since Trump’s first term, Cook has maintained regular contact with the administration, attending White House meetings and advisory boards. He emphasized shared goals such as job creation and manufacturing in the United States while highlighting Apple’s contributions under the slogan “America First.” In turn, Trump has publicly praised Cook as a reliable and effective advocate for business and economic growth, according to The Verge. The Wall Street Journal.
Now other leaders, in technology and beyond, are adopting similar strategies, taking advantage of private meetings with the incoming administration to defend their companies, influence policy, and get preferential treatment.
However, dealing with Trump’s transactional leadership style comes with challenges. He often demands unwavering loyalty, making these engagements a calculated risk for those who cannot deftly navigate the wiles of the president-elect. Leaders must carefully balance showing support for the administration while avoiding the consumer risks that might arise from doing so or perceived disloyalty from the Trump campaign.
Cook’s ability to manage this dynamic diplomatically – so far, anyway – is a skill in itself.
Ruth Umoh
ruth.umoh@fortune.com
Today’s newsletter is coordinated by Natalie McCormick.
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Driving lesson
Glenn Flugel, CEO of Booking Holdings, discussed the importance of flexibility and change in the wake of the reorganization announcement.
“Change is hard, and certainly, if you are involved in a restructuring process that is negatively impacting your life, that is a sad event…but not doing so is actually bad leadership.
Look at the companies that didn’t change, that should have changed, and weren’t willing to do so. So I ask you, do you have a Nokia phone? Well, where is Nokia’s phone business now? Have you had a BlackBerry before? Where are they? Have you ever rented a video from Blockbuster? naturally. Where are they?
News you should know
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Now Li Chang, the Chinese investor who made billions for Yale by backing companies like Tencent, is reevaluating his China strategy as U.S.-China relations deteriorate amid slowing growth and rising geopolitical tensions. Wall Street Journal
HSBC CEO is reshaping the bank’s leadership with… major Restructuring, including reducing the size of the management committee, consolidating regions, and implementing competitive reapplications for senior roles within the newly combined divisions. Bloomberg
The CEO of automaker Stellantis, which owns brands such as Jeep, Citroen and Ram, has resigned. An executive committee will be established headed by its president while the company searches for a successor. luck
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