{"text":[[{"start":7.2,"text":"The writer is the former deputy prime minister of Canada. Her new book is ‘Unreliable Boyfriend: An Insider’s View of Dealing with a Chaotic Superpower, Plutocrats and Other Complicated People’"}],[{"start":19.68,"text":"American business leaders helped re-elect Donald Trump in 2024, and their kowtowing in the first two years of his second term helped empower him. But now, as Trump’s political star is shining less brightly, some of them may be rediscovering the charms of globalisation and the perils of plutopopulism."}],[{"start":39.2,"text":"Business support for the White House was based on an economic calculation and on a political one. The political calculation was that Trump was a leader who could harness US populist angst and ride it to power. The economic calculation was that he would deliver tax cuts and deregulation, and that the Democrats would do the opposite. As a bonus, Trump promised to protect business from EU taxes and regulation too."}],[{"start":64,"text":"But that bet is starting to go wrong. For one thing, the president is failing to deliver on his end of the bargain. The midterms look to be devastating. And even before Trump began sinking in the polls, his unhinged he-man approach to both war and trade was at odds with the interests of his business backers."}],[{"start":80.96,"text":"They wanted a president who would cut taxes and rules. They got a president who has disrupted trade in the Strait of Hormuz with a war of choice and damaged America’s closest economic and security relationships with unilateral tariffs and a frenzied stream of insults. The country’s business leaders have rarely been profiles in courage, and that has never been more apparent. But as Trump’s political capital begins to run out, some are starting to say what many have thought all along — that globalisation works and that it is time for America to get back in the game."}],[{"start":112.56,"text":"Exhibit A is Jamie Dimon. The JPMorgan boss is a talented banker and shrewd political operator. He has never been a Maga cheerleader, but he has said in the past that Trump was “kind of right” on a number of key issues. Then a few weeks ago Dimon publicly called for an approach to the EU that is completely at odds with the White House. Dimon was careful not to frame his proposal for a wide-ranging free trade deal as a disagreement with the president. He even cheekily christened it “one big beautiful” agreement. But the fact is he is calling for exactly the opposite of what the Trump administration is doing."}],[{"start":148.8,"text":"Trump is battering Brussels with tariffs and siding with Putin in the Ukraine war, a fight that is existential for Europe. Meanwhile, Dimon is proposing a deeper partnership than even Barack Obama was able to achieve."}],[{"start":161.6,"text":"A midterm shellacking could embolden more business leaders to openly disagree with the president. Many have privately admitted to being uncomfortable with the Maga approach to America’s historical friends from the outset. I have had more than a dozen conversations with US CEOs who have apologised to me for their president’s conduct and told me he is hurting America and the world."}],[{"start":181.68,"text":"A New York private equity investor, who describes himself as “very conservative” and is friendly with the Trump family, told me last month he was “ashamed” of the US, that DC needs to find a way to repair the transatlantic partnership, and added, “actually, I am a globalist”. Business leaders who hold views like this are waiting for the right moment to speak out."}],[{"start":201.68,"text":"As the CEO of a Wall Street bank told me: “Timing is everything. You don’t want to speak out too soon, because your company will be punished and you will be sacked. But you also don’t want to be too late.”"}],[{"start":209.92,"text":"Trump’s naked betrayal of Ukraine and open support for Putin could be the last straw. You really need to be drinking the Maga Kool-Aid not to be mortified by US conduct — witness the explicit condemnations by Mike Pence, Trump’s first vice-president, General Keith Kellogg, an America First stalwart who served as Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, and the six Republican senators who have signed a bipartisan open letter calling on the White House to reverse course."}],[{"start":241.76,"text":"Businesses are judged by their ability to make money. Politicians are judged by their ability to win elections. If Maga loses badly in the midterms, a lot of CEOs may say publicly what they have been muttering all along in private: that the Emperor is pretty scantily clad and that they didn’t much like his imaginary outfit in the first place."}],[{"start":262.48,"text":"US businesses were a driving force in the construction of the postwar global order. If their leaders shift back to globalisation after the midterms, particularly in support of a renewed western alliance, this could have a critical impact. The big question then will be whether America’s allies are ready to take the country back."}],[{"start":286,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1792140086_3052.mp3"}