America has failed its least wealthy citizens—and “insulting” those with opposing political views isn’t going to make things better, according to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon.

Speaking at the New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday, the Wall Street veteran called on people of all ideological views to do what they can to prevent another Donald Trump presidency.

“If you’re a very liberal Democrat, I urge you: help Nikki Haley,” he said. “Get a choice on the Republican side that might be better than Trump.”

Asked whether he believed the best outcome for the election was “anyone but Trump,” Dimon responded: “I would never say that.”

“He might be the president, I have to deal with that too,” he joked—but he noted that he didn’t mind criticizing whoever ends up in the Oval Office.

Stop slamming MAGA movement, Dimon says

While he made it clear he wasn’t the biggest fan of Trump returning to office, Dimon urged Americans on Wednesday to put aside some of their ideological differences and look for the nuance in others’ political beliefs.

“We should stop talking about ultra-MAGA,” he insisted. “I think you're insulting a large group of people, and making this assumption, scapegoating—which the press is pretty good at too—that these people believe in Trump's family values and are supporting the personal person. I don't think that's true.”

A lot of the support for Trump’s so-called MAGA (“Make America Great Again”) campaign, Dimon argued, came from specific things he had called out or achieved during his presidency.

“I think what [supporters are] looking at is the economy was pretty good—the Black community had the lowest unemployment rate ever in his last year,” he said. “He wasn't wrong about China. He wasn't wrong about NATO. He was wrong about the misuse of the military. So that’s why—they’re looking at that.”

He called on people to do what they can to consider why people take opposing views. For Democrats, he suggested reading the work of conservative columnist George Will, while he said Republicans ought to look up the work of Pulitzer winning columnist Thomas Friedman.

“We should get out of this [idea that] it’s one way or the other,” he said. “I'm not mad at people who are anti-abortion. If you believe in God and that conception starts at the moment of birth, you are not a bad person. I think people need to stop denigrating each other all the time because people take a point of view that is slightly different than yours. We're a democracy—people should vote and solve some of these issues, and they won't always be what you want.”

‘What the hell have we done?’

While there has been some speculation that Dimon himself may some day run for office, he’s denied having any political ambitions for now.

However, he made it clear on Wednesday what he would have done differently to former president Trump or incumbent candidate Joe Biden.

“We've done a terrible job taking care of our bottom 30% of earners,” he said, telling the audience: “You all are wealthy and have money, but their average, their average wages are [low].”

“They're the ones who lost their job in COVID,” he added. “They're the ones who are dying five or six years younger than the rest of us. They're the ones who don't have medical insurance. They're the ones whose schools don't work, and they're the ones dealing with crime. What the hell have we done as a nation?”

Insisting that “we need to fix it,” the JPMorgan chief said the U.S. needed better immigration, education and infrastructure policies—and he pledged to do what he could to help make that a reality.

“Whoever's president, I'm going to try to help do the best job possible,” he said, before sharing an anecdote about his wife and daughters criticizing him for going to the White House years ago to meet with then-president Trump.

“I will walk into that oval office trying to help whoever is the president of the United States to do a better job for our people,” he added. “I don't agree with a lot of things [Trump] does… [but] I couldn't imagine saying ‘I'm not going to go into the White House because of who’s there.’”

Tax the rich, help the poor

During the DealBook Summit talks, Business Insider reported that Dimon was also asked by audience member and billionaire hedge funder Bill Ackman—who once urged the JPMorgan CEO to run for president—what he would hypothetically do if he were to be elected president of the United States.

He said he would start by building a cabinet of “really smart, talented brainy people” that included both Republicans and Democrats, before tackling education, immigration and “doubling down on diplomacy.”

Dimon—who has a personal net worth of $1.8 billion, according to Forbes—also said presidents should have an economic growth strategy that included “proper taxation” policies, adding that he would double the earned income tax credit for low earners “tomorrow.”

“I'd make people like you pay a little bit more," he also told Ackman. "This carried interest stuff would be gone the day I got in office because it is unfair.”

The carried interest loophole—which Ackman has previously slammed as a “stain on the tax code”—allows private equity and hedge fund managers to lower their tax bill on profits from fund investments.

JPMorgan's Dimon: Democrats should boost Nikki Haley.

 JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon urged Democrats to support Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primary, arguing that she offers a strong alternative to former President Donald Trump.

“If you’re a very liberal Democrat, I urge you to help Nikki Haley, too. Give them a choice on the Republican side that might be better than Trump,” Dimon, who leads the country’s largest commercial bank, said onstage at the 2023 DealBook Summit on Wednesday.

Dimon has been talking up Haley in recent weeks as the former South Carolina governor has gained in the polls. While she’s still trailing well behind Trump, she has won endorsements from an influential super PAC backed by the Koch network and has started to fundraise with Wall Street heavyweights.

When pressed if he’d support “anything but Trump,” Dimon pushed back.

“I would never say. He might be the president, I have to live with that too,” he said.

The banker also urged liberals, particularly New York City residents, to stop looking down on "ultra MAGA" Americans.

"You're insulting a large group of people," he said, later adding that both sides could benefit from listening to each other. "I just think people [should] stop denigrating each other all the time because people take a point of view that is different than yours."

JPMorgan boss Jamie Dimon was asked what he thinks of Elon Musk.

• JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon shared his thoughts on Elon Musk.

• Dimon said the Tesla CEO is "brilliant" and has "pluses and minuses."

• Dimon was speaking at the New York Times DealBook conference.

At the New York Times DealBook conference Wednesday, host Andrew Ross Sorkin asked JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon about Elon Musk.

"We're going to have Elon Musk here this afternoon. What do you think of him?" Sorkin asked, eliciting laughter from the audience in attendance.

Dimon responded: "He's obviously a brilliant human being and making unbelievable contributions to mankind. But he, you know, comes with pluses and minuses."

Sorkin then pointed out that JPMorgan is involved in a "big" lawsuit with the Tesla CEO.

"It's a small lawsuit," Dimon said, eliciting more laughter from the audience. "We think we're owed money for something and they say no, and it's in court and we'll win."

JPMorgan Chase CEO backing of Haley as Trump alternative draws fire from GOP rivals.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday urged Democrats to back GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley as an alternative to front-runner Donald Trump — the latest Wall Street backing for Haley which has drawn criticism from her primary rivals.

"If you’re a very liberal Democrat, I urge you to help Nikki Haley, too. Give them a choice on the Republican side that might be better than Trump," Dimon said at the 2023 DealBook Summit, according to Politico.

Haley has been gaining significant ground in the GOP primary polls in recent weeks, although she and others remain well behind former President Trump. She has leapfrogged DeSantis for second place in New Hampshire and in her home state of South Carolina, which holds the first Southern contest.

And she's drawn even with DeSantis in some of the latest polls in Iowa, whose caucuses kick off the GOP nominating calendar on Jan. 15.

Haley has been boosted by some major backing in recent weeks in addition to the support from Dimon. On Wednesday, she scored the endorsement of Americans for Prosperity Action, the political wing of the influential and deep-pocketed fiscally conservative network founded by the billionaire Koch Brothers.

AFP Action has pledged to spend tens of millions of dollars and mobilize its formidable grassroots operation to help push the Republican Party past Trump.

Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported how major Wall Street backers are lining up to support her, with the outlet reporting that admirers include the CEO of Morgan Stanley and BlackRock’s Larry Fink.

"If she passes DeSantis, she’s the backup," one financier told the outlet, arguing that with Trump’s court cases looming, "it’s not completely crazy that she could ultimately win."

But the support could be a double-edged sword for Haley in a primary atmosphere that is more skeptical of big business than in past primaries, with her rivals keen to use the endorsements from Wall Street and elsewhere as a way to attack her conservative credentials.

"Wondering why Wall Street execs, Blackrock, and the Koch Network are all supporting Nikki Haley?" the "DeSantis War Room" posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, linking to a video highlighting what it presented as liberal positions on immigration, fuel taxes and calls for restrictions on social media.

"Jamie Dimon Urges Even Liberals to Back Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley as Alternative to Trump," Team Trump said on X.

Meanwhile, Dimon also addressed the possibility that Trump could be president, when asked if he'd support "anything but Trump."

"I would never say. He might be the president, I have to live with that, too," he said.

Jamie Dimon reveals what he would do as president: Tax people like Bill Ackman more.

• Hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman asked JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon what he'd do if he were president.

• One point on Dimon's agenda: Tax the rich.

• The CEO said he'd get rid of the carried interest loophole and increase the earned income tax credit.

What would one of the most powerful billionaire CEOs do if he were president? Tax people like himself — and his fellow billionaires — more.

At the New York Times DealBook Summit this morning, audience member and hedge fund titan Bill Ackman asked JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon what he'd do if he were president.

"It's your first hundred days, what are your top 10 things and what do you do over the first year?" asked Ackman, who has previously called on Dimon to run for president.

"The first thing is I'd probably have a cabinet with really smart, talented brainy people — you might be secretary of Treasury," Dimon quipped back, adding that the group would include both Republicans and Democrats, before getting more specific on policy.

He would tackle foreign policy, he said, and "double down on diplomacy." Domestically, education, work skills, and immigration would top his list.

And then, characteristically, he'd focus on growing the economy.

"I think presidents should have a growth strategy," he said. "Growing the economy is being conducive to business. When I go to France and the UK now, and meet the president and prime minister, it's pro-growth, innovation, proper taxation for the people of the country."

Dimon's tax strategy sounds a lot like wealth redistribution.

He said he would double the earned income tax credit, a credit for low-earning workers, and make it so those without children can also qualify more easily.

"That would put more money into those communities, and they would help their kids," he said. "I would do that tomorrow."

In turn, he'd play Robin Hood and increase taxes on the rich.

"'I'd make people like you pay a little bit more," he added, turning to Ackman. "This carried interest stuff would be gone the day I got in office because it is unfair."

The carried interest loophole allows partners in venture capital firms, private equity firms, and hedge funds — a number of whom were likely in the audience at the summit — to pay little in taxes on their earnings. For his part, Ackman has criticized the loophole before, calling it a "stain on the tax code."

Dimon has blasted tax breaks in the past — like those the wealthy get on race cars, private jets, and horse racing — and called for raising taxes on high earners.

Despite votes of confidence from the likes of Ackman, Dimon has said that he won't run for president. (And of course, the president can't enforce tax-code changes anyway without the support of Congress). Still, he often gets political in his annual shareholder letters, commenting on issues from government intervention to healthcare.

Jamie Dimon says to be prepared for recession.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon issued a stark warning to Wall Street on Wednesday: Inflation could rise further and recession is not off the table.

“A lot of things out there are dangerous and inflationary. Be prepared,” he said at the 2023 New York Times DealBook Summit in New York. “Interest rates may go up and that might lead to recession.”

Governments across the globe need more money, he said, to fund the green economy, remilitarize and to address energy crises — and that will all be inflationary.

“I’m cautious about the economy,” he said. The labor market in the United States has been resilient, but “inflation is hurting people.”

Stimulus money handed out during Covid shutdowns and quantitative easing by the Federal Reserve had injected “drugs directly into our system” and caused an economic “sugar high,” said Dimon. But that’s fading. “I think quantitative easing and tightening and these geopolitical issues can bite,” he said.

In previous interviews, Dimon has said that the Fed may be far from finished with its aggressive regimen of interest rate hikes in the fight against elevated inflation, and that it’s possible the central bank will continue hiking rates by another 1.5 percentage points, to 7%.

Geopolitical woes

Dimon stressed that this may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades and that the wars in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza could have far-reaching impacts on energy and food supply, trade and geopolitical relationships. It could even, he said, lead to “nuclear blackmail.”

Mankind faces huge risks, he said. One is obviously war in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. But beyond that, Dimon is worried about nuclear proliferation, climate change and the risk of another pandemic.

The United States, he said, needs to make sure it has “the best military in the world, bar none.” It’s an expensive task, he said, but the stakes are high, “This is about keeping the Western world together,” he said at the DealBook Summit. “We need American leadership to make sure this all stays together. I don’t want a book written in 50 years about how the West lost.”

Business in China

JPMorgan Chase does business with TikTok’s parent company ByteDance and is partially underwriting the planned IPO of Chinese fast-fashion company Shein, according to a recent report from Reuters.

Dimon said on Wednesday that he’ll follow the lead of the US government when it comes to doing business in China but that he believes companies like Shein do not present a threat to US national security.

While some US lawmakers have said that TikTok is a national security threat, Dimon countered that JPMorgan Chase does due diligence on all of its clients.

“I’m not afraid of China,” he said.