Commentary
Corporate America And The 'Trust Void'
- by Shahar Silbershatz , January 28, 2025
Distrust in government is as American as apple pie. Research shows that Congress and the White House are among the least-trusted institutions today—yet they’re still more trusted than large corporations. The latest Caliber Trust in American Institutions survey found that 7% of Americans trust Congress to tell the truth, while the White House fares slightly better at 11%. Large corporations and Big Tech companies do even worse, earning just 5% of respondents’ trust.
But there’s good news. The second presidential term of Donald Trump—who has an infamously unique relationship with the truth—presents an opportunity for large corporations to build trustworthiness. By demonstrating authenticity, businesses could fill the trust vacuum created by pessimism about American authority figures. Companies that position themselves as stewards of democracy will differentiate themselves and build trust in a society desperate for responsible leadership.
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The Opportunity
Large, wide-reaching corporations loom like faceless behemoths operating in an impersonal world. In popular imagination, they often become villains mirroring governments—shadowy entities whose motives are as opaque as their operations are vast. The public frequently views them as monoliths driven more by profit than by people: necessarily inauthentic.
By contrast, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are among the most trusted institutions in America, with 21% of respondents trusting them to tell the truth. Personal engagement defines the trust gap between SMEs and large corporations. Because SMEs generally operate with smaller footprints and more localized presences, they more directly understand their customers’ values. People trust a company when the humans behind it are identifiable and relatable.
Corporations seeking to build trust must be sympathetic and principled. Publicly supporting democracy and civil rights could (bizarrely) be considered divisive in the current climate, but it could also establish companies as more relatable and ethical than the political institutions so many have grown to distrust. As contentious issues like trade warfare and immigration likely shape Trump’s term, this will become increasingly important.
At the COP29 climate summit, Darren Woods, CEO of ExxonMobil, urged Trump not to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement again—a remarkable move for a leader in the fossil fuel industry, which has historically been critical of climate agreements and often opposes emissions regulations. This apparent willingness to deprioritize ExxonMobil’s shareholders’ interest in profitability to remain true to his values lends Woods a halo of authenticity, one that could build faith in his brand.
Active dialogue with stakeholders is key. EDF Renewables’ community engagement campaign around its solar project in New York relied on early, frequent meetings with local stakeholders and ongoing site tours, career panels, and educational opportunities to engage with the community. Embracing transparency in decision-making also builds trust. Change.org exemplified this by pledging to be more open about finances internally after a round of layoffs took employees by surprise.
True Stewards of Trust
It’s impossible to say how the American government’s trustworthiness will change over the next four years—but if the second Trump administration has a relationship to the truth predicated on “alternative facts,” large American corporations have a chance to fill the void and earn trust. They should do so to boost their reputations—and to contribute to the broader societal good. Businesses that embrace transparency, authenticity, and willingness to take a stand on important issues could emerge as the true stewards of trust in the 21st century.
This entire take on trust in American institutions misses the mark because it starts from a flawed premise: that businesses can, or should, position themselves as moral authorities in a landscape where political institutions have failed. The reality is, Americans don’t distrust government because of a “lack of authenticity” or because leaders aren’t “stewards of democracy”—they distrust government because it overreaches, mismanages, and often ignores the will of the people. The same goes for large corporations. People don’t inherently dislike them for being “faceless behemoths” or “opaque.” They dislike them because, like government, they’ve started inserting themselves into cultural and political debates where they don’t belong, pushing DEI initiatives, ESG mandates, and thinly veiled social justice messaging instead of simply delivering the goods and services they were created to provide.
This push to make corporations the “stewards of democracy” is exactly why trust in them has plummeted. The public doesn’t want Fortune 500 companies to act as quasi-political institutions. They don’t want to be lectured about social justice while buying a razor, or see corporations take performative stances on every global controversy. The average person wants businesses to do what they do best—create jobs, provide value, and operate efficiently. That’s why small and medium-sized businesses are trusted more: they don’t waste time on ideological grandstanding. They engage with their communities in real, tangible ways, not through carefully crafted PR campaigns about “standing for democracy” or “fighting climate change.”
It’s telling that the piece frames ExxonMobil’s CEO as a paragon of “authenticity” simply because he took a position that aligns with the climate activist crowd, even though his company’s fundamental business is oil and gas. The implication is clear: trust isn’t about honesty or competence—it’s about parroting the correct political messaging. This is the exact attitude that’s driving the distrust in large corporations. People aren’t fooled by executives suddenly positioning themselves as activists; they see it for what it is—calculated marketing.
If businesses really want to regain trust, they should ditch the virtue signaling and focus on what made them successful in the first place: serving customers, creating quality products, and staying out of political battles that have nothing to do with their bottom line. The more corporations try to fill a supposed “trust vacuum” by posturing as ethical overseers, the more people will see through it. The public doesn’t need corporations to be moral leaders—they need them to do their jobs.
Unfortunately, I am afraid John Caldwell is correct. In this age of "grievances" fostered by Trump and the MAGA movement, a political elite in both parties that prioritizes career over country, and rampant misinformation in news sources, I am not sure anyone or any instituions can restore truth, authenticity, or trust that will be acceptable to the majority of the public..
I appreciate the agreement, but your response just reinforces my point—politics is being injected into everything. Claiming that Trump and MAGA have fostered these grievances, when my comments made no mention of any party, only proves how difficult it has become to have an adult conversation about the broader issue of consumer mistrust. The real problem isn’t any one political figure or movement—it’s that institutions have eroded public trust by prioritizing agendas over accountability. If we want to restore faith, we need to focus on honesty and competence rather than turning every discussion into a political debate.