Delegates talk down Trump, but they bet big on America
Since Donald Trump won the US presidency, business has been booming for Monacobased businessman Manfredi Lefebvre d‘Ovidio.
His privately owned luxury cruise operator, Silversea Cruises, registered an immediate pick-up in bookings from its main U.S. market and demand has continued to grow.
“Let’s face it, we should be grateful to Trump,” said Lefebvre d’Ovidio, a delegate to the World Economic Forum at Davos where Trump will speak on Friday. “The economy is strong, and the American consumer is spending.”
As the world’s top policymakers and executives await Trump to address the Davos summit, they are privately voicing disbelief and disgruntlement at his foreign affairs, retreat on environmental issues and colourful tweeting.
African leaders feel insulted after Trump is said to have classified their countries as “shitholes”, a comment he denies making. Latin American leaders are criticising his retreat from a Pacific-wide trade pact. And some top executives say they have declined invitations to meet with him in Davos.
But, with the US stock market soaring, Trump’s corporate tax cuts padding companies’ pockets and consumers spending again, companies here are quietly applauding the US president even as many Davos delegates see him as an unwelcome outsider. “On the values front, it’s hard to see the international elite here applauding Trump, but on the wallet side of things, it may be different,” said Helene Rey, economics professor at London Business School.
Some government leaders, economists and bankers are warning against an overheating of the US economy, an increase to the $20 trillion national debt and a “race to the bottom” on tax cuts. All the same, firms have high hopes for the US market.