Financial Times columnist Edward Luce on Wednesday called out business leaders who are not only expecting Donald Trump to win the 2024 election, but are welcoming the prospect.
In fact, Luce argues that his own newspaper made a similar mistake in the 1930s when fascist leader Benito Mussolini rose to power in Italy.
“The country has been remodelled, rather than remade, under the vigorous architecture of its illustrious prime minister, Signor Mussolini,” the paper wrote in a glowing 1933 profile of fascist Italy.
Luce writes that the business community is in danger of making the same mistake if it acquiesces to Trump yet again, and he takes a hatchet to claims made by some CEOs that Trump would never really follow through on his democracy-shredding revenge fantasies should he retake the White House.
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“America’s system remains intact because Trump was blocked from overturning it,” he argues. “He still claims the 2020 election was stolen and is running on the promise of jailing those who helped block him — among them Biden and Mark Milley, the then chairman of the U.S. joint chiefs of staff. It is conceivable that Trump would be too chaotic to redeem that promise. On the other hand, he would claim a mandate to do so. Perhaps the courts would stop him. U.S. business would be powerless.”
Luce also notes that many business leaders have shown themselves willing to compromise on their preferences for open international trade, so long as they don’t have to fork over as much money to the government each year.
“To many corporate chiefs, less globalization is a price worth paying for lower taxes,” Luce comments. “It seems that almost anything is.”