Jamie Dimon and Donald Trump make it official: They won’t be joining forces

11/15/2024 04:59
Jamie Dimon and Donald Trump make it official: They won’t be joining forces

President-elect Donald Trump and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon made it clear Thursday they won’t be working together when Trump moves back into the White House.

President-elect Donald Trump and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon made it clear Thursday they won’t be joining forces in government.

"I wish the president well," Dimon said in a Bloomberg interview in Lima, Peru, according to a Bloomberg report. "I’ve not had a boss in 25 years, and I’m not ready to start," he added. It was his first public conversation since the US election.

But the president-elect got there first. He took to Truth Social roughly thirty minutes before Dimon’s talk to dispel rumors.

“I respect Jamie Dimon, of JPMorgan Chase, greatly, but he will not be invited to be a part of the Trump Administration. I thank Jamie for his outstanding service to our Country!” Trump’s Truth Social account said in a post at 2 pm ET.

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 24: JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon speaks at The Institute Of International Finance annual membership meeting at the Ronald Reagan Building on October 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. Dimon spoke on JPMorgan Chase's expansion into Africa, global trade and financial technology. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon speaks at an Institute Of International Finance meeting on Oct. 24. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) · Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images

So far, Trump has largely stocked his cabinet with his closest loyalists and ruled out voices who have offered nearly any recent criticism. Trump previously preemptively ruled out — also in a social media post — appointing former rival Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Leading up to the US election Dimon, who has been an outspoken voice on a range of issues, did not give a full-throated endorsement of either Vice President Kamala Harris or Trump.

He did offer them advice, Yahoo Finance has reported, via informal and formal advisers to both candidates. And the scrutiny of his views intensified as both campaigns eyed a potential Dimon endorsement as a final sought-after prize.

Trump made sure to praise Dimon in Thursday’s post and, in October, Trump’s account even posted a false claim of a Dimon endorsement.

The public attention on Dimon comes as the speculation around Trump’s economic team intensifies with the president-elect moving to quickly name his team following last week’s election victory.

So far, Trump has focused mostly on non-economic areas with a raft of controversial picks from Rep. Matt Gaetz as his nominee for attorney general to Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense.

TOPSHOT - US President-elect Donald Trump joins House Republicans for a meeting at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington, DC on November 13, 2024. (Photo by ALLISON ROBBERT / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALLISON ROBBERT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

President-elect Donald Trump speaks with House Republicans during a meeting in Washington, DC on Nov. 13. (ALLISON ROBBERT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) · ALLISON ROBBERT via Getty Images

The picks for top economic jobs are expected to come within days.

A variety of figures from investor Scott Bessent to former US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick are seen as potentially in line for positions, including the coveted role of Treasury Secretary.

Dimon won’t be among them but, as the New York Times and Yahoo Finance had reported, Dimon joining a Trump White House was never really likely. One source said the CEO favored Harris in private. In the days leading to Election Day, Dimon’s wife Judy had also volunteered with the Harris campaign.

Though much is uncertain about what a Trump administration will mean the economy, US bank stocks rallied after Trump's victory in a sign that financial institutions expect to have an easier time in Washington under a new Republican administration.

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 03:  U.S. President Donald Trump (2nd L) greets JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon (L) and other guests at the beginning of a policy forum in the State Dining Room at the White House February 3, 2017 in Washington, DC. Leaders from the automotive and manufacturing industries, the financial and retail services and other powerful global businesses were invited to the meeting with Trump, his advisors and family.  (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In 2017 President Donald Trump, second from left, greets JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, left, and others at the White House.. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) · Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images

Dimon himself has called for less regulations, recently blasting "an onslaught" from overseers under the current Biden administration.

On Thursday, he said he does expect the Trump administration to pull back current regulation and make it easier for companies to do mergers.

However, given his concern over the current geopolitical environment, Dimon still thinks the chance that the US economy pulls off a "soft-landing" is "less than other people think."

David Hollerith is a senior reporter for Yahoo Finance covering banking, crypto, and other areas in finance. Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance

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