- In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady talks to Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla about defending science amid a backdrop of political threats.
- The big story: Trump’s tariff regime is open to compromises.
- The markets: Mixed. Gains in the U.S. and Asia but gloom persists in Europe and S&P futures.
- Analyst notes from Macquarie and Claudia Sahm on Trump and Powell, Goldman Sachs on the dollar, and Nomura on the political effect of cheap Chinese imports.
- Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. Pfizer’s Albert Bourla has become a fixture among Fortune 500 CEOs, having run the pharma giant since 2018. Yet Bourla—who trained as a veterinarian and joined Pfizer’s animal health division in 1993—considers himself a scientist first and a businessman second. As he said at a New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) dinner earlier this week where he was being honored: “Science is the cornerstone of progress in our society.”
It’s an odd and fascinating time for anyone who cares about science. As Bourla says, “We are experiencing a scientific renaissance, with previously unimaginable technology and advances in science.” And yet we’re also in a period where science is under threat, from cuts in federal funding, attacks on universities, or the misinformation guiding the agenda of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Winners of Elon Musk’s $100 million X Prize for climate tech received their awards at the Time 100 Summit yesterday in New York, but Musk is now a special employee in Washington who is cutting funds for climate research.
It’s too soon to know if this will result in fewer patents (the U.S. granted more than 350,000 patents for inventions in 2020), less innovation, or declining U.S. competitiveness. The business leaders I speak to are as concerned as the scientists writing open letters to warn that “the nation’s scientific enterprise is being decimated.” What is Silicon Valley without Stanford? Where is America’s innovative spirit without many of the brilliant minds we’ve recruited from elsewhere? The products born from research spawned with public money?
As NYAS CEO Nicholas Dirks, a former chancellor of Berkeley, said last night: “We know that in the midst of some of these cuts, we need to think differently about how we support science.”
Bourla, for one, remains an optimist. As he told me, Pfizer is not slowing down when it comes to investing in innovation and initiatives to inspire the next generation of scientists. Celebrating America’s long history of fact-based science is a start.
More news below.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
Top news
90% of earnings calls mention tariffs. “CEOs are a really unhappy bunch at the moment,” said Steven Purdy, head of credit research at fund manager TCW.
China says there are no talks. “At present, there are absolutely no negotiations on the economy and trade between China and the U.S.,” according to China Ministry of Commerce Spokesperson He Yadong.
Trump compromises on auto tariffs. The 25% tax will now only apply to the parts of cars made outside the U.S., not the entire vehicle, the FT reports.
Elsewhere on tariffs: Sen. Elizabeth Warren wants to know how Apple CEO Tim Cook got exemptions for his company … Boeing is trying to find someone else to buy the 50 planes it made for China that Beijing has now cancelled.
Polls sour on Trump. 55% of Americans say they are not confident about Trump’s economic policies, according to a Pew Research Center poll of 3,589 people. That's down 14 points from November.
Citadel CEO warns American “brand” in danger: During an appearance at Semafor’s World Economy Summit on Wednesday, Citadel CEO Ken Griffin described the American “brand” as “eroding.” Griffin warned that key members of the Trump administration “need to behave in a way that respects that brand” as restoring its reputation can take a long time.
Bessent v Musk: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and DOGE chief Elon Musk got into an F-bomb-laden shouting match inside the White House over who should run the IRS. The fight was so loud that Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, who was visiting that day, could hear it, Axios reports. (Bessent won the day.)
Bessent wants IMF and World Bank to refocus. Bessent also urged the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to focus on macroeconomic policy and stay away from “climate change, gender, and social issues.” If they make that pivot, Bessent said, then the Trump Administration will work with them.
Trump criticizes Zelensky as Russia bombs Kyiv. 34 Ukrainians killed overnight but Trump thinks it’s Zelensky who is being “inflammatory.”
Pete Hegseth latest: The defense secretary criticized members of the military who are “fat” or “shabby” and promised to investigate whether “standards have dropped.” Separately, he ordered a makeup room for TV appearances installed in the Pentagon.
The markets
- Stocks rise on easing tariff policy. All of the major U.S. stock indexes were up at Wednesday’s close following news that the Trump Administration would ease up on its intense tariff agenda. The S&P 500 was up 1.67%. The Nasdaq Composite rose 2.5%. The Dow was up 1%. Trump Media & Technology Group had a particularly good day, up 11.54%. In Asia this morning, the Nikkei 225 in Japan rose 0.5% but the Chinese indexes spent another day going sideways. European markets took a step down in early trading with the Stoxx Europe 600 down 0.6% and the UK’s FTSE 100 sinking 0.3%. U.S. futures were down 0.68% this morning, pre-open.
From the analysts
- Macquarie on Trump and Powell: “The best reason for thinking that Trump wouldn't fire Powell is that Trump needs Powell as a ‘foil’ - someone to blame for any economic slowdown that may ensue. Indeed, if the Fed cuts its policy interest rates aggressively, Trump would have little excuse for a recession apart from the pugnacity of his tariff policies,” per Thierry Wizman.
- Claudia Sahm on Trump and Powell: “There is a risk that President Trump will try to remove Powell as Fed Chair, even though he has no intention now. We cannot say it’s “unthinkable” or use Trump’s first term as a guide when similar threats did not turn into action.”
- Goldman Sachs on the dollar: “We believe the re-think of the risk and reward of Dollar assets has room to run and expect the USD to extend its declines over time,” per Kamakshya Trivedi and Dominic Wilson.
- Nomura on the political effect of cheap Chinese imports: “The flood of China imports was already impacting economies before President Trump started his second term. Countries that experienced large increases in their shares of imports from China are generally also the ones that faced the sharpest slowdowns in manufacturing growth. At the industry level, we also found a strong negative relationship between China import share and producer price inflation. These are sobering results, particularly given the data are up to 2024, predating Trump 2.0,” per Rob Subbaraman and Yiru Chen.
Around the watercooler
‘The Sell America Trade’: Who’s behind the sinking of the U.S. dollar by Jim Edwards
RTX warns of potential $850M hit from Trump tariffs as defense companies grapple with fallout of rising costs by Jessica Mathews
Philip Morris shrugs off economic volatility as Zyn shipments reach new heights—skyrocketing more than 50% year over year by Sasha Rogelberg
AI employees with ‘memories’ and company passwords are a year away, says Anthropic chief information security officer by Beatrice Nolan
Elon Musk says Tesla will have ‘thousands’ of Optimus robots by year’s end, but China slapping controls on rare earths is hobbling production by Greg McKenna
Trump memecoin spikes 58% in value after top holders are promised a private dinner with the president by Catherine McGrath
CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Jim Edwards.
