When Trump took office, the Davos agenda changed to agreement and progress
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With Donald Trump’s return to the White House diverting business leaders away from social issues and shifting their focus to growth, deregulation and threats to global trade are expected to dominate discussions among executives in Davos this week.
Several top executives will be in Washington to celebrate Trump’s inauguration on Monday before traveling to the Swiss Alps for the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting of global decision-makers.
The incoming US president, who will speak via video link at the Davos summit later this week, has promised to sign dozens of executive orders when he takes office, including measures to increase US energy production and cut red tape.
“It’s all about growth,” says Simon Freckley, chief executive of consultancy Alix Partners. “Every investor bows at the altar of growth, every CEO serves at the altar of growth and thinks about how to push growth in this area.”
The prospect of a Trump administration has boosted corporate optimism in the US, where the economy is already outperforming the rest of the world and the stock market has hit record highs. A survey of 900 academic, business and government professionals found a significant drop in fears of a recession or recession compared to last year.
However, the potential impact of Trump’s promised trade tariffs has become a concern. According to the study, “geo-economic conflict” is now considered one of the biggest risks in the next two years.
“I expect the WEF to be dominated by geopolitical uncertainty,” said Christian Klein, CEO of the German software company SAP. As we navigate the challenges and opportunities of 2025, adapting to new regulatory policies will also be key.
Jim Rowan, chief executive of Volvo Cars, which is majority-owned by Chinese carmaker Geely, said the world had become “more turbulent and more complex”. He noted the disruption caused by trade tensions, as well as the need to deliver on the promise of carbon offsets and AI.
Hugh Van Stennis, vice chairman at management consultancy Oliver Wyman, said Davos participants were “rarely divided on their investment views”.
“There is a shared narrative of animal spirits and the deal process among US financiers,” he said. “It’s on everyone’s mind that the new Trump administration will emphasize America’s uniqueness and its differences from Europe and China.”
As the world prepares for Trump’s second term, Davos regulars expect a shift in tone, even as an official program fills sessions on issues ranging from clean technology to water use to LGBTQI+ rights. Trump’s inauguration is set to clash with an opening event in Davos on Monday: a concert to highlight the threat to Antarctica’s ice caps.
“We expect this year’s Davos agenda to rebalance, and finally, CEOs want to get things done,” said Christoph Schweizer, global CEO of Boston Consulting Group. He said the priorities are productivity, generating returns from AI and preparing for more M&A activity.
For decades, the Davos Conflab has been an opportunity to set the corporate calendar and tone for the coming year.
This week’s list of nearly 3,000 attendees includes Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan, Pfizer’s Albert Bowla, sales force’s Marc Benioff and Coca-Cola’s James Koonce. Among the world leaders who will take the stage are European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Argentina’s Javier Millay, who will come after attending Trump’s inauguration.
But the show faces more questions about its intentions, with critics complaining that it fails to reflect real-world conversations.
One said the Davos standard would not be available this year because it was “too expensive in terms of value” and “less and less relevant”. A frequent Silicon Valley executive said this year’s summit was “totally overshadowed” by the inauguration, adding that “what Trump says is the most important thing out there.”