Top U.S. CEOs privately question Trump policies at Yale gathering

A private gathering of America’s leading chief executives at Yale School of Management exposed a tension between public praise for President Trump and private concern about his administration’s policies, according to a Wall Street Journal account cited by a Daily Mail report.

Prominent attendees included Motorola Solutions chief executive Greg Brown, Booking Holdings boss Glenn D. Fogel, and Ethan Allen Industries chief executive Farooq Kathwari. The executives discussed tariffs, immigration and foreign policy in a setting organized by Yale management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who said in private discourse the business leaders were worried about the current policy environment—even as they publicly compliment the administration.

They described the environment as increasingly chaotic and difficult to navigate, with some participants expressing unease about recently announced moves they viewed as advancing state capitalism. One participant argued that the government should not pick winners or losers in markets. The gathering highlighted a divide between public statements and private sentiment among corporate leaders on key policy tools, including tariffs and the role of the government in shaping competition.

Tariffs emerged as one of the central concerns. The WSJ report noted that about 71 percent of attendees said tariffs were hurting their businesses more than helping them. Roughly three quarters believed tariffs were illegally executed, with the Supreme Court expected to rule on the legality of these moves later in the fall. Most CEOs also said U.S. consumers bear the higher costs of tariffs, a point underscored by executives who stressed the domestic impact on pricing and supply chains. In this context, some companies, including Apple and Eli Lilly, were cited as planning to ramp up domestic production, in line with the administration’s stated objective of boosting American jobs and manufacturing.

Nonetheless, the survey described a mixed view on investment: about 62 percent of respondents said they would not increase investment in U.S. production in the near term, signaling a restraint on capital deployment despite tariff rhetoric. Sonnenfeld, who helped organize the event, said tariffs are holding back some executives from pursuing new investment opportunities, even as they recognize potential long-term gains from a more self-reliant economy.

Not all participants opposed the administration’s approach. The gathering included many Republicans or conservative-leaning executives who appreciated efforts to address trade issues but criticized the execution. Kathwari of Ethan Allen said there was “a fair amount of confusion” surrounding how trade fairness is measured. Pinchuk, chief executive of Snap-on Tools, articulated a common concern: “The government should not choose winners or losers in sectors.”

The policy debate extended beyond tariffs. Attendees were nearly unanimous in disfavoring President Trump’s push to persuade Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates, with about 80 percent saying the approach did not align with long-term U.S. interests.

Yet the group did not uniformly reject the administration’s broader ambitions. The WSJ noted that a sizable majority remained optimistic about the United States’ ability to lead in artificial intelligence, with nearly three-quarters expressing confidence in the nation’s progress in AI as a pathway to competitiveness with China. Executives cited strong private-sector momentum and public-private collaboration as favorable factors for maintaining U.S. leadership in technology.

The Yale gathering underscores a broader tension within corporate America: while executives publicly back policy-makers when asked, many remain wary of policy design and short-term missteps that can disrupt markets and investment plans. The event’s attendees, while diverse in their views, shared a common concern that policy volatility could deter new investment even as long-term strategic priorities—such as AI leadership—remain a central focus for U.S. competitiveness.

In the end, the meeting reflected a nuanced stance: support for robust, fair trade principles and targeted government action, tempered by concerns about how such actions are implemented and how they affect the free-market framework that many of these leaders say underpins American economic success.