Fmr. Walmart U.S. CEO Betting on Trump to Cure ‘Ailing’ Economy
President-elect Donald Trump can “make America great again” with his plan to grow the economy, former Walmart (NYSE:WMT) U.S. CEO Bill Simon told FOX Business Network’s Stuart Varney.
“Four percent GDP growth … will cure a lot of what ails this country,” he said, adding that Trump’s promise to revive the U.S. manufacturing industry and create jobs is “really exciting.”
He also praised Trump’s “hands on approach” with U.S. CEOs.
“It will work short term, and that’s really what I think the President needs coming into office,” he said. “A phone call from the President will certainly cause any CEO to pause, and then if that can buy the … new President time to implement the policy changes that need to be implemented in order for this to work and be effective and to last.”
Simon said Trump’s cabinet picks to date are helping his approval rating and creating confidence.
“It’s easy to see when the economy starts to move and the stock market’s reaction… to Mr. Trump’s election, there’s starting to get to be an anticipation and excitement about what might be, and I think as his cabinet picks start to be revealed, they’re very strong, very focused people on our country -- and I think that gives everybody a little more confidence after a very, very difficult election,” he said.
He also weighed in on Trump’s pick for Labor Secretary, CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder.
“It’s time that we got a business friendly person in the Department of Labor. We went through a pretty difficult stretch there. There doesn’t need to animosity between business and labor, the only way forward is for us to find a way to work together so that there can be good jobs and that can be good for business and Andy’s got that skills set,” he said.ork’s Stuart Varney.