• European business leaders have weighed in Donald Trump’s first day in office, with a number cheering the newly inaugurated president’s proposed policies.
• While some business leaders were optimistic about the incoming administration, others struck a more cautious tone.

European business leaders have weighed in Donald Trump’s first day in office, with some optimistic about the incoming administration and others striking a more cautious tone.

On his first day in office, the president signed a flurry of executive orders, which included withdrawing America from the WHO and the Paris Agreement — the U.N.’s landmark deal aimed at curbing climate change — as well as scaling back government diversity and inclusion programs and pardoning 1,500 Jan. 6 rioters.

Here are some of the thoughts European CEOs shared with CNBC on Monday at the World Economic Forum’s flagship event in Davos, Switzerland.

Richard Edelman, Edelman

“I think Trump gives America a really good chance to revive its animal spirit. There will be less regulation, there will be more energy supply, there will be more of a sense of markets functioning and [less] regulation, and I think Trump is a shot in the arm for business. But I think business has to work its way through how it balances other stakeholders, employees and others on issues like DEI, sustainability [and so on],” he said.

Steven van Rijswijk, ING

On Trump’s inauguration: “I think it’s also a wake-up call for Europe. I think that also Europe needs to really focus on the economy and on growth.”

“We need to become more competitive. We need to have more labor productivity. We need to invest more in AI, we need to invest in the Capital Markets Union to, let’s say, improve the flow of the capital in Europe. So I think many things that he [Trump] says, to some extent, also apply to Europe, and the focus of Europe should be on the competitiveness of this region, and that will help the entire society here as well,” he added.

Sander van’t Noordende, Randstad

Asked if the “merit-based system” touted by Trump, and his mission to roll-back DEI initiatives, were a welcome change, van’t Noordende replied: “No, not at all.”

“Some businesses are pulling back some parts of their DEI programs … Most businesses I talk to are navigating and staying the course. Why? Because it’s good for business. The workplace in the United States is a very high-trust environment. [Our research shows] 85% of people in the U.S. trust their employer. Employers don’t want to put that trust at risk,” he added.

Mario Greco, Zurich Insurance

“We have to admit that the Paris Agreement has not delivered any of the plans, ambitions, targets that were expected. It’s also true that we’re looking for other means to achieve the reduction in the temperature that is badly needed. I mean that technology needs to help. So no, [I] don’t think this is the big event,” he said.

Vas Narasimhan, Novartis

Re Trump’s health secretary pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Narasimhan said: “We have a challenge right now because, on the one hand, we have a leader of the department of HHS [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] who has outwardly said some pretty anti-scientific statements. And yet we have to work constructively with this administration to get policy changes that are important for our industry and yet still stand for vaccines, stand for science.”

“Our conversations with the administration have actually been very positive. There are obviously areas of disagreement, but I think overall this is actually going to be a better environment for us than the past four years,” he added.

CNBC reached out to RFK Jr’s campaign group for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

Kirill Dmitriev, Russian Direct Investment Fund

 “President Trump’s bold actions today prove that decisive leadership can change the course of history — unlocking economic growth and transforming global challenges into opportunities for dialogue and resolution through problem-solving,” he said.

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