Jamie Dimon is holding secret meetings with Trump on economy as ice thaws between the two


JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Donald Trump have reportedly met privately twice in the past two months to discuss the economy, an apparent thawing of relations after years of occasional tensions between the two.

Most recently, Dimon was at the White House last week to discuss the economy, affordable housing, and the Trump administrationโ€™s trade policies, according to The Wall Street Journal.

At the meeting, which was attended by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Dimon reportedly congratulated the administration on reaching a trade deal with Japan, per the Journal.

During the meetings, the first of which occurred in June, Dimon also reportedly defended Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and the importance of a politically insulated central bank, CNN reports, pushing back against Trumpโ€™s repeated criticisms of the Fed for not cutting interest rates, a stance the central bank maintained this week.

The appeals on that subject only seem to go so far, as Trump has continued to hammer Powell, whom he appointed, for not cutting interest rates. This week, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors elected to hold rates steady, though two Trump appointees voted to bring down the benchmarks, a rare break in the central bankโ€™s usual record of unanimity.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon reportedly met with Trump at White House in June and July, where he pressed president to maintain independence of Federal Reserve
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon reportedly met with Trump at White House in June and July, where he pressed president to maintain independence of Federal Reserve (AFP via Getty Images)

โ€œHe is TOO LATE, and actually, TOO ANGRY, TOO STUPID, & TOO POLITICAL, to have the job of Fed Chair,โ€ Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday of Powell. โ€œHe is costing our Country TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS.โ€

The Independent has contacted the White House and JPMorgan for comment.

โ€œWe reach out to the administration all the time,โ€ Dimon told CNBC on Thursday of his contacts with the White House. โ€œThey reach out all the time. I think itโ€™s a good thing.โ€

The meetings represent the latest evolution in a complicated relationship between Trump and Dimon.

Despite skepticism among some economists of Trumpโ€™s claims regarding his sweeping tariff agenda, Dimon has offered mixed praise for the idea of new levies, though he has warned of a loss in U.S. credibility if the president keeps delaying tariff threats or is unable to reach new deals.

โ€œThe tariff stuff โ€ฆ was very big and very large and everybody all at once,โ€ Dimon said in May. โ€œI think itโ€™s very important that they start to show progress in the deal.โ€

That month, Dimon also said the administrationโ€™s One Big, Beautiful Bill spending package had the potential to โ€œstabilize thingsโ€ concerning the economy.

โ€œThese are deals in principle โ€ฆ a real trade deal would be 10 or 20,000 pages long,โ€ he added. โ€œBut any progress is good.โ€

Elsewhere, Dimon has warned about the diplomatic effect of tariffing U.S. allies.

โ€œIf the Western worldโ€™s military and economic alliances were to fragment, America itself would inevitably weaken over time,โ€ Dimon he wrote in his annual letter in April.

Still, the two have clashed at other times in recent years.

Trump blasted Dimon as a โ€œhighly overrated globalistโ€ in 2023, after the executive urged the public to support Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primary over Trump. That year, Dimon also said the debt ceiling was โ€œone more thing [Trump] doesnโ€™t know much about.โ€

During the first Trump administration, Dimon was part of a business advisory council that fell apart in the aftermath of the presidentโ€™s ambivalent response to the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville.

โ€œThere is no room for equivocation here: the evil on display by these perpetrators of hate should be condemned and has no place in a country that draws strength from our diversity and humanity,โ€ Dimon said at the time.

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