Why rational investors bankroll dangerous politics Strongmen leaders such as Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Viktor Orbán all appeal to a certain kind of investor. Getty Images / AFP One fact that should worry those celebrating Joe Biden's win in the 2020 presidential election is that the number of people who voted for Donald Trump was much higher than the number who voted for him in 2016. After four years of incompetence and repeated assaults on democratic institutions, the Trump campaign gained 11,237,765 new voters. And while businesses are preparing to welcome their new president – and are, in many cases, imploring Trump to leave the office with a shred of dignity – the fact that so many companies supported the Trump administration should also be analysed. It was a love affair that began intensely, as businesses large and small were enthused by the promise of tax cuts and deregulation, but still many remained faithful as the president conducted destructive trade wars and attacked the globalised business models that had made many CEOs wealthy.