Corporate America embraces a new era of conservatism under Donald Trump

Good morning from Capitol Hill and welcome to White House Watch!

It’s a big day here as Senate confirmation hearings for Donald Trump’s cabinet picks get under way. Today, controversial defence secretary nominee Pete Hegseth is in the hot seat. The hearing kicks off in half an hour but in the meantime, let’s get into:

• The conservative shift in corporate America

• Special counsel Jack Smith’s report

• Greenland’s geopolitical storm

It’s the dawn of a new era of conservatism in corporate America, as executives embrace Trump and the new Republican Washington.

Companies are reshaping how they interact with society — and tech billionaires, financiers and the heads of well-known consumer groups are leading the way. It’s a mirror image of the surge in support for social justice causes after a police officer killed George Floyd in 2020.

To curry favour with the president-elect — who has a history of making personal attacks on companies and executives he doesn’t like — CEOs are parading through Mar-a-Lago, donating to the inauguration fund and doing business with Trump’s inner circle.

Last week Amazon announced it would release a “behind the scenes” documentary about Melania Trump, produced by the incoming first lady herself. The tech giant reportedly paid $40mn for the exclusive deal, weeks after it donated $1mn to the president-elect’s inauguration committee. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has cosied up to Trump personally, too.

Trump’s return has also spurred a wider shift to more conservative social and political stances and a celebration of capitalism.

Companies are doing away with diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, cutting support for racial diversity charities and dropping out of climate action groups. They’re also clearing anything that could be seen as “woke” from public statements, corporate documents and advertising. Some CEOs have been emboldened to speak out in favour of conservative policies such as tax cuts and traditional gender roles.

To some on Wall Street, the shift is a breath of fresh air.

Bankers and financiers say that Trump’s victory has empowered those who felt they had to self-censor or change their language to avoid offending younger colleagues, women, minorities or disabled people.

“I feel liberated,” said a top banker. “We can say ‘retard’ and ‘pussy’ without the fear of getting cancelled . . . it’s a new dawn.”

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What we’re hearing

Trump’s lust for Greenland — and apparent willingness to use force to get it — has unsettled many of its residents.

“You don’t just go and buy a country, or its people,” former Greenlandic prime minister Kuupik Kleist told the FT’s Polina Ivanova, adding that Greenlanders don’t like their homeland being discussed as a real estate deal.

But polar explorer Ole Jørgen Hammeken thinks there’s an upside to Trump’s interest in Greenland: with the future of the autonomous Danish territory now in the global spotlight, Copenhagen must be more attentive to locals’ desire for more political control.

Mining consultant Bolette Nielsen said Greenland’s biggest political flashpoint was between those who want to remain attached to Denmark in some way and those who think Greenland can go it alone.

Either way, “Trump has triggered a lot”, Nielsen said. “Denmark will have to listen to Greenland much more. We’ve been crying out for this for so long.”

After Greenland’s Prime Minister Múte Egede renewed calls for independence, Danish PM Mette Frederiksen said it was “legitimate and understandable”.

Hammeken said the exchange showed that “the balance between Greenland and Denmark has shifted tremendously in just the past few days”, because of Trump.

Viewpoints