Jamie Dimon tackles Trump on immigration: ‘I don’t like what I’m seeing’

Damon refused to commit to what he called “binary” political narratives, positioning himself as a “realist” rather than a partisan politician. While he acknowledged the need for strict border controls, he expressed great concern about the current climate of enforcement and rhetoric. He doesn’t support what the Trump administration is doing, but that doesn’t mean he approves of Biden’s approach either.

“I think we have to calm down a little bit of the internal anger over immigration,” Dimon said. Regarding the possibility of mass deportations – often a focus of Trump’s campaign platform – he expressed doubts regarding the implementation and morality of such operations.

“I think it’s an approximation [a] Damon noted that criminality is one thing, but expressed a desire for better data on those targeted: “Show me who’s been arrested. Are they here legally? Are they criminals? But I don’t like what I see.”

Dimon recounted a private conversation with Trump, suggesting that the president’s private views on immigration reform may be more flexible than his public speeches suggest. Dimon allegedly urged Trump to tie border security to legal pathways for residents, telling him: “When you control the border, fix the rest,” he recalled telling Trump, meaning a merit-based system and “a path to citizenship for people who work hard.”

Damon noted that Trump was receptive, saying, “Yes, more on merit” and “Absolutely.”

Dimon also noted that Trump recognized the economic need for immigrant labor in critical sectors. “I heard Trump say… hey, we need these people,” he said, noting the essential roles immigrants play in hospitals, hotels, restaurants and agriculture. Damon stressed that the majority of these workers are “good people” and “should be treated that way.”

However, Dimon’s call for empathy was coupled with harsh criticism of many years of the federal handling of the immigration crisis. He said he remains “angry at the Biden administration for what they allowed to happen,” when deportations declined and illegal entries rose, arguing that the lack of border control “has done tremendous damage to our country.” He asserted a basic position that countries “must control their borders or else they will cause huge problems,” pointing to migration struggles across Europe as a warning.

Despite these challenges, Damon argues that the United States maintains a clear advantage over Europe: immigrants’ desire to integrate.

“In America, most people who come to America want to become Americans,” he said. “They come to work, and they can’t wait to become citizens of the United States of America. This is not true for most European immigrants.”

Throughout the discussion, Dimon pushed back against attempts to categorize his views as purely “Trumpian,” on the one hand, and “liberal,” on the other, criticizing the media for searching for black-and-white answers to complex economic and social issues. He stressed that although he disagreed with Trump on tariffs and rhetoric, he agreed with the need for border security, provided that this was accompanied by policies that recognized economic reality.

“I’m a realist, and I like facts and details, not the dichotomies that happen all the time,” he said.

For this story, luck Journalists have used generative AI as a research tool. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publication.