A little compliment goes a long way, and Donald Trump is no exception to the rule. JPMorgan Chase CEO and chairman Jaime Dimon is finding out as much.
In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek , the former president seemed to be warming up to the Wall Street titan for a spot in his potential cabinet, a position that Dimon has not gone on record as vying for. “He is somebody that I would consider,” Trump said of Dimon for the role of secretary of the Department of Treasury.
Trump’s comments came on the tail of a private meeting between the former president and major CEOs at Business Roundtable's fireside chat last month. Dimon as well as Apple chief Tim Cook were in attendance to the conversation which Trump called a “lovefest,” according to Bloomberg . And nothing speaks to Wall Street and SIlicon Valley tycoons’ hearts like appealing to corporate profits, as the Republican nominee for the 2024 race apparently voiced a desire to cut the corporate tax rates to 20%.
“I have a lot of respect for Jamie Dimon,” Trump said, according to a transcript published by Bloomberg.
Dimon has publicly walked the line on Trump, most recently throwing him a bone last January at World Economic Forum,points out Bloomberg Businessweek. “Be honest," said Dimon. “He was kind of right about NATO,” going on to speak positively of Trump’s tax cuts. This spring, Dimon said Bidenomics is “partially” working, praising its bipartisan infrastructure but claiming that not all households feel its effects.
“I think some of the American public looks at it like, what are they getting?” he said. “If you go to rural America or inner cities, I’m not sure they feel like they’re being lifted up by this economy
Yet while they might be courting through public statements now, in 2018 Dimon asserted he would win against Trump if he ran. “I’m as tough as he is, I’m smarter than he is,” adding that he was self-made and his wealth “wasn’t a gift from daddy.” But the investment banker immediately walked it back in a statement to ABC's Rebecca Jarvis
Last November, Dimon spoke of bolstering other Republican candidates. “If you’re a very liberal Democrat, I urge you: Help Nikki Haley,” he said at the New York Times DealBook Summit this past fall. “Get a choice on the Republican side that might be better than Trump.”
Taking on a Switzerland approach, Dimon encouraged both parties to understand the other side and, for his own part, explained he really has no allegiances. “Whoever’s president, I’m going to try to help do the best job possible,” he said. The CEO at times has received pressure to run for President but has remained vague and noncommittal. Dimon said to Bloomberg in 2023 :“Maybe one day I’ll serve my country in one capacity or another.”
After the recent assignation attempt at Trump’s rally, Dimon wrote to his bank encouraging everyone to “stand firmly together against any acts of hate, intimidation or violence that seek to undermine our democracy or inflict harm.”
But a stamp of approval from CEOs can be self-serving, as even Trump notes. “Whoever’s leading gets all the support they want,” Trump told Bloomberg. “I could have the personality of a shrimp, and everybody would come.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
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