--- title: How CEOs Should Navigate Donald Trump’s Presidential Win description: Now CEOs have to pilot their enterprises in uncertainty by addressing key priorities, write Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian. canonical: https://time.com/7173430/trump-president-business-2024/ author: Jeffrey Sonnenfeld article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-11-06T17:34:43.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-01-19T15:17:55.000Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How CEOs Should Navigate the Trump Presidency og:description: CEOs have to pilot their enterprises in uncertainty by addressing key priorities, write Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian og:url: https://time.com/7173430/trump-president-business-2024/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc75a9ae67543b638/698a9bf9929fad9c7cc03a2e/trump-president-business-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: US-VOTE-POLITICS-TRUMP og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How CEOs Should Navigate the Trump Presidency twitter:description: CEOs have to pilot their enterprises in uncertainty by addressing key priorities, write Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Steven Tian twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc75a9ae67543b638/698a9bf9929fad9c7cc03a2e/trump-president-business-2024.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How CEOs Should Navigate the Trump Presidency > Sponsored content. 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A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=2b8200d4-1baf-49c8-b2f8-14b616cde009&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump Declares Election Victory in Speech to Supporters [Watch (HLS stream): Trump Declares Election Victory in Speech to Supporters](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/yb0xE9vU.m3u8) (3:51)  _Published 2024-11-06. Republican former President Donald Trump claimed victory in his race against Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House._ by [Jeffrey Sonnenfeld](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-sonnenfeld/) ## Jeffrey Sonnenfeld Updated: Jan 19, 2026 3:17 PM UTCPublished: Nov 6, 2024 5:34 PM UTC Republican former President Donald Trump claimed victory in his race against Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris for the White House. by [Jeffrey Sonnenfeld](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-sonnenfeld/) ## Jeffrey Sonnenfeld Updated: Jan 19, 2026 3:17 PM UTCPublished: Nov 6, 2024 5:34 PM UTC The American democratic system worked even though the American Democratic party failed. Donald Trump was decisively [reelected president](https://time.com/7172052/how-donald-trump-won-2024/) by the largest popular vote and the most demographically diverse voting base in history without allegations of foreign election interference or domestic voting fraud. Kamala Harris performed worse than Joe Biden with [Black voters](https://x.com/josh%5Fwingrove/status/1854061651751764225), [Hispanic voters](https://x.com/ChrisCillizza/status/1854137595665502572), [young voters](https://x.com/CivicYouth/status/1854135392427294773), and [women voters](https://x.com/josh%5Fwingrove/status/1854061651751764225). There is hardly a [major population segment](https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2024/politics/2020-2016-exit-polls-2024-dg/) where Harris did not slip. Business leaders stand among the few constituencies who openly condemned Trump’s leadership character and economic policies. Now CEOs have to pilot their enterprises in uncertain waters by addressing key priorities. First, they cannot look backwards. There is no value in CEOs joining the finger-pointing to explain the Harris campaign failure. It may be true that the Biden and Harris Administration’s missteps in global affairs damaged credibility badly with the confused collapse of the Afghanistan military exit, insufficient weapons support for Ukraine, limited influence in the Middle East, and continued reliance on China for production in key domains. It is similarly true that the administration's failure to make a clear case for one of the strongest economies in U.S. history as well as the [strongest economy](https://time.com/7096021/economy-swing-states/) in the world fed negative misleading Trump campaign narratives, despite falling inflation, full employment, strong GDP growth, reduced deficits, and the greatest energy production on earth. None of this analysis, regardless of the legitimacy of any of the issues raised, is relevant to the duties and priorities of business leaders who are hired to represent the interests of diverse shareholders and other stakeholders. Second, business leaders should congratulate President Trump for his resilience. As Trump said Wednesday morning, "We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible and it is now clear that we've achieved the most incredible political thing, look what happened, is this crazy?” This unprecedented return to power included coming back from such setbacks as his [failed re-election](https://time.com/5907674/joe-biden-wins-2020-election/), the denunciation of scores of his top lieutenants, two [bipartisan impeachments](https://time.com/5928988/donald-trump-impeached-second-time/) by Congress, six legal prosecutions with [two convictions](https://time.com/6983196/donald-trump-convicted-hush-money-trial-new-york/), and at least two [assassination attempts](https://time.com/7021475/trump-golf-club-shooter-assassination-attempt-reactions-investigation/). His stamina as well as success in getting more than half the nation to rally behind him are remarkable qualities which must be acknowledged. Also, consistent with Trump’s own calls for healing and collaboration, election differences are best put behind us by recognizing the efforts and contributions of President Biden and [Vice President Harris](https://time.com/7171850/kamala-harris-first-woman-president/). Third, CEOs must remember their shared fate and be prepared to fortify each other even as they return to join President Trump’s economic development mission of national unity — especially on issues with shared concerns, such as the dangers of widespread tariffs versus selective trade protection of strategic sectors, potential [mass deportations](https://time.com/7171654/donald-trump-immigration-plan-2024/) of key workers, threats from foreign powers, or political intrusion into the independence of the Federal Reserve. They should remember their lessons from 2017 when they enthusiastically joined President Trump’s business advisory councils only to find themselves splintered by divide-and-conquer maneuvers — attempting to pit drug companies, airlines, beverage companies, auto makers, defense contractors, against each other driven by political vindictiveness. As Benjamin Franklin warned, “Unless we hang together, we shall surely hang separately.” ## Transcript [00:00] Be an American wearing these stands. [00:05] And I won't forget the men who Thank you very much, Wow. [00:21] Well, I want to thank you all very much. [00:24] This is great. These are our friends. [00:26] We have thousands of friends on this incredible movement. [00:31] This was a movement like nobody's ever seen before. [00:36] And frankly, this was, [00:41] I believe, the greatest political movement of all time. [00:46] There's never been anything like this in this country and maybe beyond. [00:50] And now it's going to reach a new level of importance because [00:55] we're going to help our country heal. [00:59] We're gonna help our country heal. [01:01] We have a country that needs help, [01:04] and it needs help very badly. [01:06] We're gonna fix our borders. [01:08] We're gonna fix everything about our country. [01:11] And we made history for a reason tonight, [01:15] and the reason is going to be just that. [01:17] We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible, [01:21] and it is now clear that we've achieved the most incredible political thing. [01:27] Look what happened. Is this crazy? [01:31] So want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being [01:36] elected your 47th president and your 45th President. [01:45] And every citizen, I will fight for you, [01:48] for your family, and your future. [01:52] Every single day, I will be fighting for you. [01:54] And with every breath in my body, [01:58] I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe, [02:02] and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve. [02:07] This will truly be the Golden Age of America. That's what we have to. [02:16] This is a magnificent victory for the American people [02:20] that will allow us to make America great again. [02:28] We also have won the popular vote. That was great. [02:35] Oh. [02:44] Thank you. Thank you very much. [02:53] Thank you. Winning the popular vote was very nice, very nice. [02:58] I will tell you. It's a great feeling of love. [03:02] We have a great feeling of love in this very large room. [03:05] With unbelievable people standing by my side, [03:09] these people have been incredible. [03:12] They've made the journey with me, [03:14] and we're going to make you very happy. [03:17] We're going to make you very proud of your vote. [03:19] I hope that you're going to be looking back someday and say that [03:22] was one of the truly important moments of [03:25] my life when I voted for this group of [03:28] people beyond the president, this group of great people. [03:34] America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate. [03:42] We have taken back control of the Senate. 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