President-elect Donald Trump ruled out giving a post to JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Jamie Dimon in his second-term administration in a jab at the prominent Wall Street chief executive officer.
"I respect Jamie Dimon, of JPMorgan Chase, greatly, but he will not be invited to be a part of the Trump Administration. I thank Jamie for his outstanding service to our Country!" Trump said in
Trump had said in a June interview with Bloomberg Businessweek that he would consider Dimon for Treasury secretary, but he later disavowed that statement.
"He is somebody that I would consider, sure," Trump said in the interview. In July, though, he said he had "never discussed, or thought of" Dimon for a role in his cabinet, adding that he did not know where that idea "came from, perhaps the Radical Left."
Trump's team is narrowing its options for Treasury secretary with Key Square Group founder Scott Bessent, Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and former Securities and Exchange Commission chief Jay Clayton among the contenders.
The president-elect is expected to make a decision as soon as this week.
The New York Times in October reported that Dimon had privately supported Trump's general election rival, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, and told people that he would consider a role in her administration.
Dimon, though, has pledged to work with whoever was elected. His wife, Judy Dimon, supported Harris' presidential bid with donations and by canvassing voters in swing-state Michigan.
'Golden Age'
Bessent, one of the top contenders for Treasury secretary under Trump, praised the president-elect's economic agenda as one that would grow diverse sectors of the economy.
"Everyone asks me, 'What do you tell President Trump he should do?' I don't have to tell Donald Trump he should do anything. He's done it. We had a great economy under Trump 1.0," Bessent said in an interview on Fox News' Fox and Friends on Thursday.
"Under Donald Trump, we could have a golden age for the next four years. We can bring back the manufacturing. We can have energy dominance," he added. "We're going to have peace and we're going to have this technology boom."
The contest to be Trump's second-term Treasury secretary has spilled into public view in recent days, with public and private jockeying among the potential picks.
Bessent, who was a prominent advocate for Trump during the campaign, has the support of a wide range of leaders across Trump's coalition, including longtime allies Steve Bannon and Ralph Reed.
Lutnick, for his part, is making a play for the job himself, according to people familiar with the matter. Lutnick, whom Trump tapped as transition co-chair, is among those pushing back against Bessent, saying the hedge fund manager is soft on key protectionist pledges, including tariffs, according to the people familiar with the matter.
Fox News' morning show is a friendly venue for the incoming president and his conservative allies — and a way to garner the attention of Trump, an avid cable news viewer.
Bessent on Thursday hailed Trump's electoral coalition that drew on support from prominent Wall Street executives and business leaders, including Elon Musk — the world's richest person — as well as from working-class Americans frustrated by high costs for groceries and housing and worried about the impact of President Joe Biden's policies on jobs and wages.
"Think about the coalition that Donald Trump assembled. This was the greatest political comeback in history, greatest political comeback in history, and it was a combination of working-class Americans and Elon Musk, the richest person in the world. Who else could do that, but Donald Trump," he said.
