JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is done being ‘binary’ amid political polarization

Macroeconomic and foreign policy out of the Trump White House 2.0 has divided opinion: Critics have slammed the tariff plans as “bullying,” while advocates believe the Oval Office is merely correcting unfair trade practices.

The Wall Street giant is keen to find a middle ground, especially if the outcomes of some policies remain unclear. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, this week, Dimon repeatedly said he wanted to avoid drawing “binary” conclusions about the economy and the impact of foreign policy.

Even regarding White House policies, he said he felt it would be a “disaster” and said he was still open to the idea of ​​experimenting. For example, President Donald Trump is pressing US lawmakers to pass legislation to limit credit card interest rates to 10%, after he implored banks on social media to voluntarily sign the agreement.

“It would be an economic disaster,” Dimon told the audience in Davos, noting that it would remove credit lines from 80% of Americans. A study published by the American Bankers Association on Monday found that 74% to 85% of open credit card accounts nationwide would be closed or have their credit lines significantly reduced if the cap were put in place — as many as 159 million cardholders.

Until then, Damon said, “I have a great idea.” “Since there’s so much disagreement about this…I think we should test it.”

The CEO of America’s largest bank said he was confident JP Morgan would survive such an event, adding: “The people who will cry the most won’t be the credit card companies. It will be restaurants, retailers, travel companies, schools, municipalities – because people [will] “They missed their water payments, this batch, that batch.”

“They have to test it,” he added.

Foreign policy question

Trump has raised more eyebrows in the past few weeks alone, with his foreign policy demands. This included threatening to impose tariffs on a group of European countries that opposed his attempt to seize Greenland.

While those threats have since been walked back, Trump has shared some similarly controversial views about NATO. The president has previously threatened to leave the military alliance, as he claimed in his speech in Davos this week: “The United States is treated very unfairly by NATO. When you think about it, no one can argue with that. We give so much, and we get so little in return.”

He added: “I have been a critic of NATO for many years, and yet I have done more to help NATO than any other president, and by far more than anyone else.” “You wouldn’t have NATO if I didn’t participate in my first term.”

Asked whether Trump’s approach had made NATO stronger or weaker, the 69-year-old Dimon said the answer was not so “binary.”

He explained that highlighting NATO’s weaknesses and areas for improvement was understandable, but responded: “I think it’s OK for me to point that out, and I’ll be more polite about it, in terms of the weaknesses in Europe, and what they need to do. But if the goal is to make them stronger rather than break up Europe, then I think that’s OK.”

Aversion to political polarization is an anomaly in the current political climate. In July, Pew Research published a study that found that 80% of Americans say Republican and Democratic voters disagree not only on important challenges facing the country, but also on basic facts.

Davos elite

Dimon also declined to address whether there is a “culture of fear” among American business leaders when it comes to criticizing the administration. The question, which was met with applause from the audience, sparked some frank reactions to what Dimon described as the “Davos elite.”

“I’ve been coming to Davos all these years and listening to gossip and things like that,” he said. “And you haven’t done a particularly good job at making the world a better place. I think it’s great that we can get together and talk.”

The pursuit of a balanced view has been Dimon’s hallmark since Trump won the Oval Office this year, and it has made the man — who himself has been nominated to work on Capitol Hill from the Oval Office to the Fed — a critical friend of the White House.

He has supported some policies, for example, saying that the White House was right to address trade imbalances between the United States and its partners. He said Fox In an interview in May, he initially thought the tariff speech was “too big, too big, too aggressive when it started.”

However, he was concerned about the Oval Office announcement imposing a new $100,000 fee on H-1B visas. Specialized visas allow US employers to hire non-US workers temporarily, usually for specialized jobs in the technology sector, and have been retained by some of the most prominent names in Silicon Valley.

“I would like to plead with the president,” he said. CNBC At JPMorgan’s 10th annual investor conference in India in September. “We should have good migration. I think there will be some pushback on the H-1Bs.”

The banker forcefully summed up his views in Davos as a “globalist.” “I’ve made it clear that I want a stronger NATO, a stronger Europe. Some of the things Trump has done cause that, some of them don’t. I’m not a supporter of tariffs, although I would use them to impose tariffs,” he said. [some] Cases. I think they should change their approach to immigration. I said that.