Boardroom

Some have attributed the unexpected wins for progressive-leaning candidates in Canada and Australia to the “Trump Effect”—where policies and approach from U.S. President Trump have inadvertently galvanized electorates to non-populist electoral victories. While it may be too soon to call it a definite trend, corporate boards should evaluate key elections in 2025 to determine where there might be more political turbulence than anticipated. What additional surprises will 2025 hold?

With multinational businesses stretched by intensifying geopolitical conflict, macroeconomic shocks, and global trade tensions, CEOs will need expert counsel from their corporate boards more than ever. Yet, new data shows that only one-third of CEOs say they are highly confident in their board’s ability to help them navigate the challenges facing their organization. What’s missing? What are CEOs not getting from their boards and how can the confidence gap be overcome?

As tensions between D.C. and Beijing escalate, corporate directors are looking to better understand and reduce their exposures to the U.S.-China trade war. As of mid-April 2025, we offer a review of China’s non-tariff countermeasures that target the U.S. With an unclear off-ramp for either side, corporate boards will have to further build scenarios that offer greater supplier optionality in the short-term while also re-evaluating long-term enterprise strategy. Overall, the cost of doing business in and with China will increase for U.S. business and will likely have lasting impact. How can businesses manage through China’s escalating retaliation?

In the past, political risk has been a specific category of risks that boards and management teams reviewed quarterly and managed through insurance policies. Acute issues were handled by task forces or crisis management teams when needed. Now, under President Trump’s second administration, companies are inundated with constant geopolitical threats and uneven operating conditions. A blurring of political risks is happening in real-time, as political risk is broadening to include: protectionist trade policy, sanctions, tariff retaliation, export/import bans, regional strife and conflict, border security, human rights, international terrorism, failed multilateral cooperation, increasing influence of populist governments, and more. With many of these themes presenting themselves weekly and even daily, how do companies recast their political risk management under Trump 2.0?