Bankshot

What was Jamie Dimon thinking?

The event was billed as the official launch of JPMorgan Chase’s new community development effort. Dubbed “Advancing Cities,” the $500 million initiative aims to fund local job training and affordable housing programs across the country.

But those who attended the two-hour announcement at JPMorgan’s New York headquarters left with few new details on how exactly the new initiative will work. What they got, instead, was a clear sense of what CEO Jamie Dimon would do if he were elected president.

And make no mistake, he could win a general election, he told the audience — if he could survive the primary process.

“I think I could beat Trump — I just can’t beat the liberal side of the Democratic Party,” Dimon said. “I’m tougher than he is, I’m smarter than he is, I would be fine.”

Plus, unlike President Trump, who inherited money from his father, he made his own wealth, Dimon said.

“This wealthy New Yorker actually earned his money,” he said.

dimon and trump

To give the audience a sense of his priorities, the outspoken CEO — who also criticized the Democratic Party’s understanding of “how society actually works” — went on to list the policy changes he would make if he were, in his words, “king for a day.” Among them: He would tax the rich. He would “go right at schools, right at infrastructure.” He would also impose a negative income tax — the idea being that low-income Americans are faced with too much red tape just to receive basic assistance.

“Just give them the $30,000,” Dimon said, discussing the funding low-income people receive through social programs such as welfare.

Dimon also joked that his wife “would love to be first lady.”

It was a captivating riff that enlivened an otherwise staid event. But it also raised the question: What on earth was Jamie Dimon thinking? Did he plan this, or was he out-Trumping the president in the field of improvised commentary?

Social media, predictably, lit up over his comments and was full of as many questions as sharp comments. Shortly after the event concluded, JPMorgan even released a statement on Dimon's behalf, walking back his comments.

“I should not have said it," the statement read. "I’m not running for president. Proves I wouldn’t make a good politician. I get frustrated because I want all sides to come together to help solve big problems.”

The focus on politics comes just months after JPMorgan had seemingly tamped down speculation of Dimon’s political ambitions, saying in January that he planned to stay on as CEO for an additional five years — or beyond the 2020 presidential election.

Whether or not his comments Wednesday — and their reception by the public — alter those plans remains to be seen. For JPMorgan, any venture by Dimon into the politics would undoubtedly raise difficult questions about succession planning, and who could run the company in his absence.

Given Dimon’s popularity, both within and outside of the banking industry, though, perhaps the occasional flirtation with a political run is hard for him to resist.

But at the event Wednesday, what was clear is that Dimon, in teasing people with his political ambitions, derailed what was supposed to be the focus of the morning: addressing economic inequality.

By picking a social-media-worthy fight with Trump — for whom, by the way, Dimon has previously served as an adviser— the JPMorgan CEO turned the focus away from his company’s work on corporate responsibility. He also overshadowed the actual, elected policymakers in the room, including Mike Duggan, mayor of Detroit; Ashley Swearingen, the former mayor of Fresno, Calif.; and Michael Nutter, the former mayor of Philadelphia.

In addition to insulting Trump, Dimon also reserved some of his political ammunition for his hometown mayor, saying Bill de Blasio has consistently snubbed invitations to visit JPMorgan.

“I have invited Mayor de Blasio here, and he doesn’t come,” Dimon said.

Dimon might have had a good time, and the Twitterverse along with him, but it was really unclear what today’s sideshow accomplished for Dimon’s company, the political system he says he wants to see fixed, and the cities he says he wants to see helped.

Bankshot is American Banker’s column for real-time analysis of today's news.

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Policymaking Jamie Dimon Donald Trump JPMorgan Chase
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