The era of pay-me capitalism has arrived, with companies being forced to adapt to President Trump’s maximalist view of presidential intervention in the economy. The big picture is that everything has a cost under Trump’s leadership, with businesses having to adhere to his priorities, pay tariffs, move their operations as he dictates, and toe the line on social priorities.
The list of examples grows daily, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s stance on corporate margins coming down, government cuts into foreign sales by tech giants like Nvidia and AMD, and demands for drugmakers to change their product-selling practices. The recent trade deals also contemplate government ownership of major projects, leased to the private sector.
These moves are creating uncertainty for businesses, both about the rules and how long they’ll last. “To the extent that we now have relationships with the private sector and the government occurring beyond legislatively prescribed rules of the road,” says Neil Bradley, chief policy officer at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, “it creates a lot of uncertainty what future administrations might do and what their guardrails are going forward.”
Companies like Apple have already faced consequences for not playing ball. The company’s pledge of $500 billion in US manufacturing was deemed insufficient when it expanded production in India to keep costs down. Trump threatened huge tariffs on phones, which were eventually reduced after CEO Tim Cook offered another $100 billion pledge and a 24k gold gift.
Wall Street is skeptical of the administration’s approach, with CEO Nancy Tengler stating that government involvement in the private sector doesn’t make sense. The White House defends Trump’s track record, citing trillions in investment commitments, billions in tariff revenue, and unprecedented trade deals.
The bottom line is that the “cost of doing business” is going up, and so are the risks of not paying. President Trump is rushing toward a new style of economy, with deals that some worry don’t look much like red-blooded capitalism that defines America.
Source: https://www.axios.com/2025/08/22/trump-apple-nvidia-amd-intel-corporations