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After a week of wild swings in markets and growing demands from investors, President Trump’s trade war may be coming into clearer focus with Wednesday’s (4/9) pause on most reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. With stocks surging on Wednesday, many are hoping that his goal is clearer – China containment. President Trump cited talks with foreign nations in explaining the reversal, but said China would not be included after Beijing announced further retaliations. While the China angle is feasible, we also offer a spectrum of scenarios to help decision-makers play-out risks and opportunities. How will executives assess their risks and re-conceptualize their strategies – supply chain, CapEx, de-valuation, and more?

Real estate companies are navigating RTO policies by balancing financial impacts, employee preferences, and market trends. The rise of remote and hybrid work has led to underutilized office spaces and changes in tenant demand, prompting management teams to explore repurposing, flexible leasing, and strategic property acquisitions. To retain talent, companies are adopting hybrid work models while carefully planning space utilization. Companies are also capitalizing on market downturns by acquiring discounted office properties to adapt to evolving business needs. As the landscape continues to shift, the question is whether management teams are being bold enough to rethink the traditional office model, or are they merely reacting to short-term trends?

In the past, political risk has been a specific category of risks that management teams and their boards reviewed quarterly and managed through insurance policies. Acute issues were handled by task forces or crisis management teams. Now, under President Trump’s second administration, political risks are blurring and broadening to include: protectionist trade policy, sanctions, tariff retaliation, export/import bans, cyber-attacks, 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 daily, how do companies recast their political risk management under Trump 2.0?