According to The Post, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has been communicating with Donald Trump via secret back channels in recent months, assisting the president-elect in developing a policy agenda prior to and following his decisive White House victory.
The 68-year-old Wall Street titan, who grew up in Queens, New York City, like the 78-year-old Trump, has served as “a sounding board” for the incoming commander-in-chief’s economic manifesto, according to four sources close to Trump’s transition team.
According to a GOP insider, the president-elect’s inner circle had a series of “no-holds-barred conversations” with Dimon, who was rumored to be interested in a government job at the time.
“They have been speaking regularly for months,” said another GOP source familiar with the situation.
According to three sources close to Trump, the secret back channel was focused on plans to cut government spending, banking regulation, taxes, and trade.
According to a company insider, Trump’s top aides orchestrated the calls, which continued after the election, to “create a bit of daylight” between the two men and prevent details of the exchanges from leaking.
A spokesperson for Trump’s transition team declined to comment. A JPMorgan spokesperson also declined to comment.
Trump and Dimon’s quietly cozy relationship has thrived despite the banker’s cryptic and tight-lipped political tendencies. In June, Trump floated Dimon’s name as a possible Treasury secretary pick and later claimed he had won his White House endorsement, despite Dimon’s lack of a public statement to that effect.
Trump and Dimon have also continued to communicate despite disagreements, such as on Nov. 14 when the president-elect stated on Truth Social that Dimon “will not be invited” to join his Cabinet. The banker quickly responded, “I haven’t had a boss in 25 years, and I’m not about ready to start.”
The JPMorgan CEO, a registered Democrat who has declined to support either candidate in the presidential race, reportedly considered joining a Kamala Harris administration but then ruled himself out after her poll numbers plummeted, according to The Post.
On November 22, the Post reported that Trump was also consulting with Blackrock CEO Larry Fink, a major Democratic donor, on policy issues.
Nonetheless, one source described the former “Apprentice” star’s admiration for Dimon, who has led JPMorgan Chase for nearly two decades and is estimated by Forbes to be worth $2.6 billion, as “a man crush.”
Another person close to the president-elect said Trump “greatly appreciated” Dimon, an avid New York Post reader, telling CNBC in January that the eventual election winner was “kind of right” to criticize illegal immigration and America’s NATO allies’ weak defense spending.
Dimon’s comments enraged left-wing Biden administration officials, who blacklisted him from the White House in a fit of rage, according to The Post.
Two weeks ago, the JPMorgan CEO said Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on America’s major trading partners “will bring people to the table” if “done wisely.”
Dimon, a vocal critic of current US banking rules, recently slammed the ‘onslaught’ of red tape drafted by Democratic-backed regulators, launching a foul-mouthed tirade over a list of his most-hated pieces of legislation at a recent conference in New York,
“It is time to fight back…””I’m done with this s-t,” Dimon told the stunned audience.
The JPMorgan CEO singled out regulations designed to strengthen banks’ resilience to financial storms by requiring them to hold more capital on their balance sheets. The proposal, known as Basel III, would increase major lenders’ emergency buffers by 9%.
“Things are becoming unfair and unjust, and they are hurting companies, a lot of these rules are hurting lower-paid individuals,” Dimon stated on Tuesday, Oct. 28.
Dimon, who earned $34.5 million last year, urged the US government in his annual letter to shareholders last May to deliver “effective policy-making” and warned that “a politician’s dream is a businessman’s nightmare.”
Wells Fargo analyst Mike Mayo believes Trump’s second term will be “the biggest inflection point for banking regulation in three decades.”
“This is Jamie’s vindication,” Mayo told the Post. “He is looking at all the bureaucracy and red tape and saying enough with the regulatory theater. “It is like banking with one hand tied behind your back.”
Mayo added that Trump’s potential repeal of stringent banking regulations “should mean borrowers get better rates for their loans and better services for customers.”
The top analyst stated, “It would be foolish for any administration not to listen to Jamie Dimon.” Everyone should at least consult him for ideas.
The revelation that Trump sought advice from a “kitchen cabinet” of Wall Street insiders comes after he appointed staunch loyalist and hedge fund mogul Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary.
He has been holed up at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, assembling his team for his new administration.
Trump’s decision to seek informal advice from American finance titans outside his MAGA inner circle may provide additional reassurance to investors ahead of his second term in office, which begins January 20.
