European CEOs react to the new US leader

“I think Trump is giving America a really good opportunity to revive its animal spirit. There will be less regulation, there will be more energy supply, there will be a greater sense of how markets work and (less) regulation. I think Trump is a shot in the arm for business but I think that Businesses have to navigate their way through how to balance other stakeholders, employees, and others on issues like DEI, sustainability (and so on).”

On Trump’s inauguration: “I think it’s also a wake-up call for Europe. And I think Europe also needs to really focus on the economy and growth.”

“We need to become more competitive. We need more labor productivity. We need to invest more in artificial intelligence, and we need to invest in the Capital Markets Union, for example, to improve the flow of capital in Europe. So I think he added, “A lot of the things (Trump) says apply to some extent to Europe as well, and Europe’s focus should be on the competitiveness of this region, and that will help the whole society here as well.”

“We’re still digesting. That’s a fair assessment. I think it’s going to take us some time to understand, but we’re listening carefully. But as always with Mr. Trump, there are some things that are said and other things that are done.” “We have to separate the two,” he said.

On the danger of Europe falling further: “Yes, this danger certainly exists… but we should not point to Mr. Trump. We should look in front of our house, take the sweeper and start working on what, through it.” Organization is…the starting point, there are a lot of things to do.”

“I think President Trump returning to the White House means more uncertainty in terms of policy. It also means more volatility in the markets, and that’s something we’ll see in the coming weeks and months, so we need to be prepared for that as well, and I think the market is trying to understand The actual extent of tariffs imposed by the United States on other countries.”

“Yesterday, I think there was a reference to Canada and Mexico, but there are other very important countries that may be subject to tariffs or not, depending on how things go. So I think the political uncertainty will be there, and I think that will be an important driver for the markets in the short term.” “

“In purely financial terms for a lot of American companies, it’s going to be very positive… As a financial investor, it’s generally very exciting… When we talk to CEOs, and we talk to a lot of them, we really see that animal spirit coming back.”

“We have to admit that the Paris Agreement did not achieve any of the plans, ambitions and goals that were expected. It is also true that we are looking for other means to achieve the temperature reduction that we desperately need. I mean that technology needs help, so no, I do not think that this “It’s the big event.”

“It’s still too early to digest it all. The first thing I would say, like Trump 1.0, is that he does what he says he’s going to do, and so I don’t think there’s a lot of uncertainty about the priorities he’s set. Always, it’s going to be about “How do these things play out and how do they have an impact on the world? Look, our base case for this year is very simple that, we think, it will be good for U.S. growth, and it will likely slow international growth,” he said.

“We have a challenge now because, on the one hand, we have a leader at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) who has ostensibly made some anti-science statements, and yet we have to act,” said Narasimhan, Trump’s health secretary, who selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Constructively with this administration to get policy changes that are important for our industry and yet still defend vaccines and defend science.

He added: “Our conversations with management have actually been very positive. Obviously there are areas of disagreement, but I think overall this will be a better environment for us compared to the past four years.”

CNBC reached out to the RFK Jr campaign group for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.