Jamie Dimon didn’t name Donald Trump after the previous president grew to become the president-elect final month.
He additionally didn’t go away a voicemail straight with The Donald – regardless of some reporting that tried to depict the JPMorgan chief with different CEOs as a world-class suck-ups to the person who, in case you consider the spin, is able to unleash holy hell on anybody he sees as a foe.
Who informed me this? Properly, I spoke to somebody with direct information of the matter who is aware of what goes down on the mega-bank Dimon runs.
Nope, no name to Trump from Dimon, the JPM insider stated.
Nevertheless, somebody from the financial institution’s authorities relation’s crew did name somebody on the Trump transition crew to congratulate the president-elect on behalf of Dimon and guarantee his those that the world’s prime banker is able to present recommendation and counsel if it’s wanted, the insider stated.
OK, appears like a bit of little bit of inside baseball, till you perceive the backstory.
A number of weeks again, I co-bylined a narrative with The Publish’s James Franey that touched a nerve with individuals who prefer to diss our pleasant newspaper, company executives and Trump himself.
We solely reported that Dimon and Trump have an honest relationship, fostered by means of “backchannel” communications. The JPM boss speaks with Trump by means of his transition aides, we reported.
This backchannel permits Dimon to advise the Trump marketing campaign and transition crew of regulatory issues involving banks since Dimon is type of an professional on the topic. Each Trump and his folks respect Dimon.
Why don’t they discuss straight? Hypothesis is that the ego of each males will get in the way in which since they’ve traded niceties and a few barbs over time, together with as I first reported in The Publish, Dimon letting or not it’s identified he favored Kamala Harris within the election and would fairly work for her if she have been elected even after Trump floated his title as a doable Treasury Secretary.
Harris didn’t win, and Dimon was good sufficient to hedge his bets. That’s the rationale for the backchannel stuff, which doesn’t match into the mainstream media narrative that the world’s finest banker, a Democrat no much less, would lend a serving to hand to the person they like to hate, the Orange Menace generally known as Donald Trump.
First, Fortune got here out with a bizarre non-takedown of our story suggesting that we reported that Dimon and Trump spoke straight, and we acquired all of it improper. As we identified, they didn’t, therefore the descriptive “backchannel” discussions.
Then the New York Occasions got here out with a narrative headlined “Finance Moguls Revel in Trump’s Return and Ignore the Peril.” This piece stated Dimon truly referred to as Trump a day after the election, left a voicemail, and by no means heard again. A so-called “snub” by the president-elect of somebody who supported Harris throughout the election.
Fortune, for its half, stated it stands by its “sourcing.”
Emails to the Occasions reporter on the story weren’t returned.
Suffice to say, reporters make errors on a regular basis (sure, I’m not immune). I’ve additionally been doing this reporting factor for lengthy sufficient to understand how simply you will get your wires crossed about who Dimon left his VM with, notably beneath deadline strain.
I can even see how the drama about our Dimon and Trump protection reveals an fascinating bias in enterprise protection today. Suggesting something near an honest relationship between a company govt and a dude controlling company America’s federal regulatory equipment matches neatly into the narrative that one thing shady is occurring when Trump is approached by folks like Apple’s Tim Prepare dinner, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg of Fb and Dimon.
They’re all sucking as much as Trump, the nattering nabobs declare, as a result of he’s identified to play tough with enemies, actual and perceived. Sure, The Donald does have a imply streak, and company America does love its perks from massive authorities.
However I think the company kissing of the ring exposes one thing else. From what I hear, the often left-leaning heads of America’s prime corporations are fairly blissful that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are out the door.
Regardless of Trump’s tough edges, they bear in mind fondly the financial system throughout Trump’s first time period (robust progress and low inflation amid a regulatory respite).
They couldn’t stand the insurance policies enforced by Biden-Harris’s leftist directors on the SEC, FTC and FCC who stopped practically each merger and imposed large regulatory prices.
On prime of that, Trump — versus Sleepy Joe — is prepared to interact with enterprise leaders and hearken to their considerations as all these conferences at Mar-a-Lago display. “After the first year, no one even saw Biden,” one financial institution CEO informed On The Cash. “He was cloistered by the people really running the show.”
So let’s get again to the Dimon-Trump bromance, which I discover fascinating.
Each are streetwise New Yorkers; Dimon is 68, Trump 78. Dimon definitely spoke to Trump throughout his first time period; they acquired alongside swimmingly throughout one tête-à-tête the place Trump is alleged to have given Dimon a private tour of his new helicopter whereas senior White Home aides sat idly by, fidgeting their thumbs as the 2 mentioned the perks of being billionaires.
Dimon has heaped reward on Trump and the way he dealt with the financial system, immigration and cautioned Biden about attacking MAGA Republicans. Dimon is a Democrat, however he stated Biden needs to be extra respectful to Trump voters.
They’ve additionally traded barbs. Dimon as soon as stated he might beat Trump if he ran for president as a result of he’s “as tough as he is,” and he added “I’m smarter than he is.” Trump reacted as you may anticipate. Dimon later apologized.
Their bizarre relationship continued throughout the marketing campaign, doing an odd public kabuki dance with Trump providing then rescinding a suggestion to make Dimon his Treasury Secretary and Dimon doing his finest Hamlet imitation earlier than turning it down.
My wager, Dimon will quickly name Trump, and this time, The Donald will decide as much as talk about the paint jobs on their helicopters and, hopefully, the financial system.
