Wall Street Executives Torn Between Trump and Harris in 2024 Election

Many Wall Street executives are uncertain about which candidate to support in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. Concerns range from Trump's economic and policy instability to Harris' regulatory crackdown on Wall Street. Executives are divided, with some backing either candidate, while others remain undecided, assessing the implications on economic policies and democratic institutions.

Many Wall Street executives have reservations about backing either candidate in the U.S. presidential election, worried that former President Donald Trump's policies will hurt the economy but wary Vice President Kamala Harris will lean too far left.

While multiple Wall Street heavy-hitters including Bill Ackman, John Paulson, and George Soros have backed a candidate, many other senior executives are still weighing the economic policies central to the closely fought race and the ramifications for legal and democratic institutions, according to conversations with two dozen executives in recent weeks. Despite a track record implementing Wall Street-friendly measures, Republican candidate Trump's policies threaten to create economic and policy instability, many executives said.

While Harris would be a safe pair of hands, she has only been the Democratic candidate since late July when President Joe Biden exited the race and remains a big unknown, they said. Many worry the Vice President will continue Biden's regulatory crackdown on lucrative Wall Street businesses. Among the executives were Republican and Democrat supporters, including a handful who are publicly backing Trump or Harris, and others with no obvious partisan affiliation.

"Most expect Trump to continue where he left off, which is certainly more populist, protectionist and aggressively deregulatory," said Bruce Mehlman, partner at bipartisan lobbying firm Mehlman Consulting with clients in all sectors. "But they're eager to better understand who Harris is and what she believes," Mehlman said, adding it did not appear that Harris' Wednesday economic speech had offered more insight for Wall Street firms.

As with his first presidency, Trump is promising to cut taxes and regulations, but most executives said the benefits could be erased by his planned import tariffs which could spark inflation, while tax cuts could widen the U.S. deficit. Trump ramped up his planned tariffs in comments this week. Karoline Leavitt, Trump campaign National Press Secretary, said in a statement that Wall Street investors want Trump to win because they remember that his policies "fueled growth, drove down inflation, and kept more money in everyone's pockets."

(With inputs from agencies.)