Coming of age
Quinceañeras are an increasingly big business.
The election of a real estate developer with no political experience as president is the ultimate expression of America’s admiration for successful businesspeople.
Which is why his antibusiness behavior is so very disappointing.
President Donald Trump seems to have forgotten that any private enterprise’s primary concern is to make a profit, not do what’s best for the economy or his voters. Or for his family.
Nordstrom flew into the eye of the storm recently by announcing it would no longer carry Ivanka Trump’s fashion line due to declining sales. According to internal data obtained by the Wall Street Journal, sales of Trump products fell 32 percent last fiscal year, declining 70 percent alone in October, when activists called on shoppers to boycott the brand.
In an era of declining revenues for brick and mortar stores, no retailer can afford to keep selling products that linger on the shelf. That’s why other stores are phasing out Trump items, including Neiman Marcus and Burlington. Others are carrying fewer of them, including T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, Belk, ShopStyle and the Home Shopping Network.
The #GrabYourWallet campaign claims credit for the declining sales, but a spokeswoman for Ivanka Trump says overall sales are up. Frankly, though, it shouldn’t matter whether the poor sales are from the boycott because all that really matters is the retailers’ bottom line.
Trump rejected Nordstrom’s explanation in a tweet and accused management of trying to hurt him by treating his daughter badly. Senior adviser Kellyanne Conway violated federal ethics rules by urging Americans to buy Ivanka’s goods. Actor Scott Baio, who praised Trump at the Republican Convention, announced he would boycott Nordstrom.
Acorporation’s difficult business decision became a political talking point. And it wasn’t the first time.
Trump has used social media to attack dozens of companies, including Amazon, American Airlines, AOL, Apple, Boeing, Carrier, Fiat Chrysler, Coca-Cola, Disney, Facebook, Ford, GM, Goldman Sachs, Google, H&R Block, HP, Koch Industries, Lockheed Martin, Macy’s, Microsoft, Mylan, Procter & Gamble, Sony, T-Mobile, Time Warner, Toyota and Verizon.
None of them committed any crime; they simply did what was best for shareholders, which should be enough.
Trump supporters argue he is ending business as usual. Instead of hosting CEOs in the Lincoln bedroom, he is applying tactics perfected in New York real estate. He insults and belittles to generate shock and awe before he begins negotiations with an unfriendly handshake that he uses to pull people literally off balance.
Aware of Trump’s readiness to use his 140 character bully pulpit, CEOs now have to worry about what Trump might tweet. That’s sad, because living in constant fear of what the president might say is the hallmark of a corrupt, authoritarian regime, not a freemarket democracy.
One Trump voter told me he’s willing to accept that the president is as “couth as a catfish” if he delivers on his promises to boost the economy, reward companies and increase wages. And that’s a common trade-off I’ve seen in many countries where the majority tolerates an authoritarian leader in return for good jobs and stability.
Trump still needs to deliver on the bargain, though. Thirty days into his presidency, his record is at best mixed.
Financial institutions and companies subject to environmental regulations can rejoice. He is rolling back the Dodd-Frank laws imposed after the 2008 Great Recession and clearing the way for extractive industries on federal lands. He has also prioritized new pipelines.
Other policies, though, could do more harm than good.
The president has talked about imposing a border tax, and if it resembles Congress’s adjustment tax, it would likely drive up prices, suppress consumer confidence and hurt companies that import products. The conservative group Americans for Prosperity is campaigning against it.
“Imposing a $1 trillion tax hike on American families and small-business owners is simply the wrong approach to updating the corporate tax code,” Brent Gardner, the group’s chief government affairs officer, said.
The Trump administration’s immigration policies have triggered outrage from the tech industry, which depends on foreign-educated engineers and programmers. Nearly 100 companies have signed a brief filed with the U.S. 9th Circuit of Appeals opposing Trump’s executive order.
“The order makes it more difficult and expensive for U.S. companies to recruit, hire and retain some of the world’s best employees,” it says. “It disrupts ongoing business operations. And it threatens companies’ ability to attract talent, business, and investment to the United States.”
Trump touted his business acumen while running for president. He made bold promises that students of economics have a hard time squaring with reality. But we at least expected him to listen to the business community.
So far, it doesn’t look good.