- Donald Trump has gone after a number of prominent CEOs during the first months of his second term.
- His criticisms range from manufacturing woes, to allegations of political bias, to DJing.
- Here's a running list of CEOs Trump has criticized during his second term.
Leading a company is not for the faint of heart. Especially if the company runs afoul of the White House.
President Donald Trump is no stranger to public disagreements with corporate America. During his first term and before returning to office, he critiqued General Motors' decision to shut down factories, and threatened to jail Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, to name just a few examples.
Since stepping back into the Oval Office, Trump has targeted corporate leaders and gone after companies without specifically naming the CEOs. In April, he criticized Amazon for reported plans to display tariff-related price hikes (the company denied the plan), and in May, he reprimanded Walmart for announcing price increases.
Business leaders who face Trump's ire don't always stay in the doghouse for long, as the president has flip-flopped between criticism and praise for many corporate titans.
Here's a running list of the CEOs who have come under fire from Trump during his second term.
David Solomon
Trump may lash out at CEOs, but it's not always their words that spark a presidential outburst.
For example, Trump appeared to call for Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon to fire one of the investment bank's economists.
" I think that David should go out and get himself a new Economist or, maybe, he ought to just focus on being a DJ, and not bother running a major Financial Institution," Trump wrote on Truth Social on August 12.
It still isn't entirely clear what led to Trump's attack, though, days before the post, Goldman analysts projected that US consumers would begin to absorb more of the cost of tariffs — a view that contradicted Trump's claims that his trade policies wouldn't cost consumers more.
Lip-Bu Tan
Few executives have seen just how quickly Trump can shift his views as Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan.
In less than one week, Trump went from directly calling for Tan's ouster to praising Intel's chief as "an amazing story." Trump's reversal came after a private meeting with Tan in the Oval Office.
Trump's unprecedented step of calling for Tan's ouster preceded an even more rare occurrence. On August 22nd, the US took a 9.9% equity stake in Intel, making US taxpayers the beleaguered chipmaker's largest shareholder.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said his initial attacks on Tan came after he saw that Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, had written a letter to Intel's board of directors about Tan's reported ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
"He walked in wanting to keep his job, and he ended up giving us $10 billion for the United States," Trump said.
Tim Cook
Trump has criticized Apple CEO Tim Cook for what he said were insufficient efforts to move business to America. Apple's supply chain for the iPhone and other products has long depended on China.
In May, the president said he didn't want Apple to shift manufacturing to India: "I had a little problem with Tim Cook yesterday. I said to him, 'Tim, you're my friend. I've treated you very good. You're coming here with $500 billion, but now I hear you're building all over India. I don't want you building in India.'"
Tariff tension aside, the two men seemed to have patched it up by August, when Cook joined Trump in the Oval Office to announce that Apple was increasing its $500 billion investment in the US by $100 billion. Cook gifted Trump an American-made glass and gold engraving at the meeting, and the president said Apple will be protected from future tariffs because it's building in the U.S.
Business Insider has previously reported that even with the billions in investment, it will be nearly impossible for Apple to manufacture iPhones domestically.
Elon Musk
Tesla CEO Elon Musk did more than any other CEO in the country to return Trump to power. The world's richest man spent over $290 million during the 2024 election, the vast majority of which benefited the president.
Musk became the story of the first 100 days of Trump's second term, using his perch at the White House DOGE office to help fire thousands of federal employees. Trump even bought a Tesla during an unprecedented White House event to boost the automaker as its sales slumped amid backlash to DOGE.
In June, the two friends' relationship crumbled. After leaving the White House, Musk tried to kill Trump's then-pending (now passed) signature domestic achievement, "The Big Beautiful Bill." Trump responded by threatening Musk's government contracts, which sent Tesla shares plummeting.
Tensions have somewhat cooled since then. Musk threatened to start his own political party, but has little to show for it. Trump's allies want to bring the Tesla CEO back into the fold.
Brian Moynihan
When speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, Trump criticized Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan for what he said were the bank's failures to serve conservative clients.
"I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives, because many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank," Trump said during a question-and-answer portion of his video address that included Moynihan himself, according to Reuters.
A spokesperson for Bank of America told Reuters that "we welcome conservatives," and that the bank is "required to follow extensive government rules and regulations that sometimes result in decisions to exit client relationships. We never close accounts for political reasons and don't have a political litmus test."
Jamie Dimon
Trump included JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon in his Davos criticism.
"You and Jamie and everybody, I hope you're gonna open your bank to conservatives," the president said while addressing Moynihan and accusing him of de-banking conservatives.
Representatives for JPMorgan told Reuters that the bank would never close an account because of politics and that it always follows the laws of regulators.
Brian Roberts
Once a reality TV star, Trump has repeatedly lashed out at NBC, which aired "The Apprentice," and sister network MSNBC, the latter of which is known for its liberal commentators. Occasionally, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts has found himself on the receiving end.
In February, Trump attacked Roberts on Truth Social as the "Lowlife Chairman of 'Concast,'" even as he thanked MSNBC for firing political commentator Joy Reid.
Back then, Comcast was still sorting through the details of spinning off MSNBC and other networks into a new company called Versant. In August, MSNBC announced that, contrary to some reports, it would not keep NBC as part of its name. Instead, the rebranded network would be called MS NOW, an acronym for (My Source News Opinion World).
Trump took the opportunity to attack Roberts, again.
"SO MUCH FUN TO WATCH THEIR WEAK AND INEFFECTIVE OWNER, 'CONCAST,' HEADED BY DOPEY BRIAN ROBERTS, HOPELESSLY AND AIMLESSLY FLAILING IN THE WIND IN AN ATTEMPT TO DISASSOCIATE ITSELF FROM THE GARBAGE THAT THEY CREATED! MSNBC IS A FAILURE BY ANY NAME!!!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Rupert Murdoch
Trump (usually) loves Fox News. After all, there is a well-worn path from Fox News to the Trump administration — just look at Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Trump's relationship with Rupert Murdoch, the legendary News Corp. CEO who oversees Fox News and The Wall Street Journal, is much more complicated.
Out of power, Trump criticized Murdoch for not doing more to support his unfounded views that the 2020 election was stolen. Back in the White House, Trump sued Murdoch, The Journal, News Corp., and others after the paper published a report that Trump wrote a "bawdy" letter decades ago to Jeffrey Epstein for Epstein's 50th birthday. Trump has repeatedly denied writing such a letter.
"I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn't print this Fake Story," Trump wrote on Truth Social after The Journal published its story. "But he did, and now I'm going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper."
After the suit was filed, Trump's lawyers pushed to depose Murdoch quickly, citing his "recent significant health scares." The two sides agreed that Murdoch would provide health updates.
