Brunswick and Echelon Insights asked registered voters in late June what they would tell America’s chief executive officers if they had the chance. Only 3% said anything about politics.

Before any CEOs breathe a sigh of relief, the same poll asked about contributing to the president’s new White House ballroom. That was the most damaging thing a company could do, worse than endorsing his policies outright, at a net negative of 37 points.

The bill for using money to buy political influence is about to arrive and CEOs who think the safe course is staying out of politics will find they already signed for it.

This is a problem facing every large company in America, and it’s really three problems. There’s this administration, which has shown that it’s willing to inflict real damage to any company that fails to bend to its wishes. There’s the public, which is watching how companies respond. And there’s whoever holds the White House next, who will inherit the same power along with a record of who paid what and how much. What protects a company from the first makes its position worse with the other two.

Start with why this is happening, noting that no law caps what a president can raise for a nonprofit like the ballroom trust or his presidential library, and most of it requires no public disclosure of who gave. The Wall Street Journal reported on July 30 that President Donald Trump calls his fundraiser most nights to ask which companies have written checks and which haven’t, that he often tells her to raise the size of the ask to........

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