In his first term as president, Trump has leveraged the power of the federal government to try to punish a wide range of adversaries in the business world who he sees as challenging him in various ways. He also told some corporate figures he would help them if he returned to the Oval Office and urged them to donate to his campaign, as he did to oil executives at a private meeting at Mar-a-Lago in April. And he talked frequently about revenge during the campaign, and in June, TV host Dr. He told Phil that “sometimes revenge can be justified.”

“Trump has had no problem calling his political enemies by name and threatening to use government power for revenge, and that appears to be scaring many wealthy targets,” said Brian Riedl, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. right think tank. “It’s a very frightening sign that government intimidation is working.”

Two Trump campaign advisers, who spoke on condition of anonymity to reflect private conversations, said multiple executives tried to reach the former president’s team late in the race.

“I told CEOs to intervene as quickly as possible because the clock is ticking… . If you’re a Harris supporter and we never hear from you until after the election, you’ve got an uphill battle,” Trump’s adviser said. “People are back-channeling, looking into their networks; “They’re talking to lobbyists and seeing what they can do to connect with the president and his team.”