The Trump Bump?

The megayacht market on the whole is optimistic that Donald Trump’s win in November is going to mean great things, even if the effect is not certain or immediate. With the tumultuous and often ugly 2024 U.S. presidential campaign behind them, many Americans have breathed a big sigh of relief. But perhaps none more so than the superyacht community. Many in the industry had hoped a Trump victory would lead to a bonanza of yacht sales owing in large part to the Republican’s pro-business and anti-regulation policies, as well as the more favorable tax environment his administration is expected to provide for UHNW Americans.

In particular, per an article in Boat International, yacht owners are hoping that Trump reinstates a bonus depreciation clause that means buyers of yachts operating in the charter business could write off up to 100% of an eligible asset’s cost in the first year it was purchased, rather than applying a graduated depreciation over the course of the asset’s life.

Despite the high hopes of some industry insiders, others have privately expressed doubt and perplexment about Trump’s influence on the industry—particularly builders who use labor in countries where Trump has threatened tariffs. Others outside the industry have also concluded that a Trump presidency may not be all sunshine and roses for yachting. UBS’s private-wealth management report for 2025 similarly raised concerns about Trump’s hardline stance on trade tariffs. It also expressed apprehension about excessive fiscal deficits and the administration’s ability to deal with multiple armed conflicts abroad. The last issue is viewed as being exacerbated by the relative inexperience of Trump’s cabinet picks. The investment bank sees all of these factors as potential drivers of higher inflation, weaker growth, and potential market volatility.

Yacht brokers on the other hand are a more optimistic bunch. With a Trump victory secured, Heesen reached out to some of America’s top yacht salesmen, including our own director of sales in North America, Thom Conboy, to get their take on what Trump’s impending return to power this January has meant for the superyacht sector in the short term.

The overall feeling is a bit more tempered than the expectations for an immediate windfall that many brokers had been extolling on the sunny docks of the Fort Lauderdale boat show mere days before the election. All three men we spoke to expressed a “good not great” impression of how the political sphere was immediately influencing the market. Though with two of our sources saying that all of their clients are Trump supporters, the optimism seems likely to play out as a net-net positive for the industry. And of course, Trump hasn’t even taken office yet, there’s no telling just how powerful and long-lasting a wave his return to power might have on the yachting industry.

“The immediate effect on the market was positive but not overwhelming,” says Jeff Stanley of Gilman Yachts. “I had a few people pull the trigger who were waiting until the votes were cast, but it’s important to note that these were on boats all in the neighborhood of just under 100 feet in length. It’s not like we saw a flood of orders on big boats, but my clients are 100% Trump supporters—mostly because of the wealth tax that the Democrats were floating—and I think the overall feeling is to move toward getting a bigger or newer yacht. And that certainly bodes well for a builder like Heesen.”

Stanley saw his own business boom recently, and says that he did as much business in September and October than the rest of the year combined, perhaps as Republicans gained stronger confidence about their chances in November. These days Stanley says there is “a lot of feel-good money in the air.” He says he has closed two deals since the end of the Lauderdale show (a little less than a month past as of press time).

James Corts is a broker with MarineMax based in Naples, Florida. Hailing from long line of financial advisors, and with an extensive background in finance himself, he thinks he knows where all the enthusiasm is rooted. “In his first term, the Trump tax breaks took advantage of accelerated depreciation,” he says. “So if you bought a new Heesen, for example, and chartered it, you could take advantage of that because the yacht generated income and acted as a business. So if you made that $50 million purchase of a big yacht, you experienced a nice tax break under Trump the first time around, and I think people are looking for that to happen again.”

For his part, Conboy seems like the most optimistic of the bunch. “I think this Trump victory is going to have a good and nice effect on the market, though it hasn’t kicked in yet for obvious reasons,” he says. “It’s the holidays and nothing happens this time of year, but I have some big-number guys that are building boats, and everybody is very upbeat. There is a business man in charge now, and I think that can only be good for the economy and for America as a whole.”

Though even Conboy tempered his enthusiasm ever so slightly when asked about any immediate sales increases. “Listen, it’s not like someone called the day after the election and said ‘Hey I want to buy a big boat,’” he says. “But it will happen. I say this all the time, but the money is always there, it’s just the confidence that sometimes is not.”

With Trump’s inauguration fast approaching in late January, all eyes in the megayacht industry remain on the Americans, who make up the majority of boat owners over 24-meters worldwide. American yacht salesmen have a renewed sense of vigor and confidence in their product, and it’s one they say their largely Trump friendly clientele shares. Of course time will tell how this all shakes out for the industry, but right now for many in the yachting circles, the sales outlook is looking nothing short of presidential.

By Kevin Koenig