Donald Trump is poised to be the “most transformational” U.S. president due to his corporate tax rate approach and a unique deregulation plan across financial and energy sectors, according to Charles Myers, chairman at Signum Global Advisors, speaking during the keynote session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 Defined Contribution Plan Summit on Feb. 27.

In addition to the Trump administration’s planned corporate tax cuts, Myers said he’ll be a prominent business president by attracting foreign investment, increased business mergers and acquisitions and what he deemed the reopening of the initial public offering market window, which could help both public and private equity markets.

“On top of all of that, corporate earnings are very strong in the U.S. It’s literally, I would argue, the best setup in my career for the U.S. economy and, by extension, the U.S. equity market.”

Read: What could a second Trump presidency mean for Canadian institutional investors?

In addition, Trump is inheriting an economy that’s “already growing,” said Myers, and finds itself in incredibly good shape, despite what was debated on the campaign trail. The labour market is also in a better position with inflation back to manageable levels thanks to the decisions of the Federal Reserve, he noted.

Out of Trump’s three big economic goals — three per cent growth of U.S. gross domestic product, three million additional barrels of oil production per day and bringing the budget deficit down to three per cent of GDP — he said the first is very likely, the second is ambitious but a positive target overall and the third one is pure fantasy.

In terms of the relationship between Trump and Elon Musk, who has become a right-hand man of sorts, he said he expects a “painful” breakup eventually, but noted the duo will stick it out longer than what most expect. “I give him more time than most people do with Trump and the reason I say that is because Trump really needs Elon Musk.”

Read: How crypto-friendly Trump administration could impact institutional investors

Musk’s public role allows Trump to deflect the actions of DOGE, Musk’s department of government efficiency, and save Trump from decisions that could hurt him politically, said Myers. The second reason he expects to see Musk sticking around Trump is the capital afforded to the campaign during the election trail.

“I would say Elon probably brought and/or paid around a billion dollars into the overall Republican side of the campaign this last cycle. Trump and the Republicans need him for the midterms.”

While Myers’ keynote session took place at the end of February, he did address Trump’s tariffs threats, noting they’ve angled the U.S. in direct opposition to Canada. The situation, he said, boils down to Trump really wanting Canada to agree and accelerate a renegotiation of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement deal in 2025 to extract more concessions from Canada in sectors in which Trump believes the U.S. is running a bigger trade deficit.

Read more coverage of the 2025 DC Plan Summit.