Trump slams Jamie Dimon over election claim
Channel: Good America
Date: 2018-09-13

President Trump on Thursday slammed JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, a day after the banking executive remarked that he could beat Trump in an election.
“The problem with banker Jamie Dimon running for President is that he doesn’t have the aptitude or ‘smarts’ & is a poor public speaker & nervous mess - otherwise he is wonderful. I’ve made a lot of bankers, and others, look much smarter than they are with my great economic policy!” Trump wrote in a tweet.
Dimon said during a speaking event in New York on Wednesday that he could beat Trump in a bid for the White House because he’s just as tough and is “smarter than he is.”


"I think I could beat Trump ... because I'm as tough as he is. I'm smarter than he is,” Dimon said.

Wall Street’s longest-serving bank chief’s comments come after reports swirled that he could possibly run for the presidency and is starting to hand over day-to-day duties to other top executives at JPMorgan. Dimon’s contract with the bank ends in five years.

However, the 62-year-old added that he isn’t sure that he could convert liberals.

"I can't beat the liberal side of the Democratic party,” he said.

Dimon has publicly said he won’t run for president and is committed to head the bank for another five years. He later regretted making the comments, releasing a statement shortly afterwards.

"I should not have said it. I'm not running for President. Proves I wouldn't make a good politician. I get frustrated because I want all sides to come together to help solve big problems," Dimon said in a statement.

However, in a recent interview with The Financial Times from earlier this week, Dimon admitted that there is some “truth” to the reports that he has been handing over more of his day-to-day duties to two of his top senior executives at JPMorgan.

Dimon said his role at the company is more like a “coach” than a CEO now, when referencing mentoring JPMorgan’s two co-presidents, Daniel Pinto and Gordon Smith.

Both Pinto and Smith were promoted to co-presidents in January. Pinto leads the bank’s corporate and investment bank side, while Smith heads its consumer banking arm.

Dimon told FT that the duo is like having two Tom Bradys on the football field so the move toward coach was natural.

“When you have Tom Bradys on the field, you let them be the quarterback and you can be the coach,” he said.

Smith, 60, told the outlet that Dimon has a non-micromanagement approach but “if things aren’t going well, he will be all over that problem.”

“[And] all over you — trying to fix whatever isn’t working,” Smith said.

But Smith and Pinto aren’t the only frontrunners as potential successors, if Dimon decides to step down in 2023, another favorite among investors is Chief Financial Officer Marianne Lake.

Since Dimon took over as CEO in late 2005, JPMorgan’s shares have more than doubled to $114.23 from $48.07. He also managed to lead the bank through the 2008 financial crisis relatively unscathed and snapped up other faltering banks, including Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual in the process.

However, Dimon did find himself wrapped up in trading debacle that came to be known as “The London Whale” in 2012. A trader, nicknamed the “London Whale,” lost at least $6.2 billion for the bank and accused Dimon of making him the fall guy, but charges against Dimon were dropped in 2017.