Donald Trump’s social media post that showed a purported endorsement for the presidency from the JP Morgan chief executive, Jamie Dimon, among the most influential investment bankers on Wall Street, is false, a representative confirmed on Friday.
The Truth Social post – what appears to be a screenshot of a tweet with a siren emoji and text claiming Dimon had endorsed Trump, with a photo of Dimon – appeared at 1.56pm ET on Friday, as Trump was flying to Augusta, Georgia, for a campaign event.
But Dimon has not endorsed Trump or made any endorsements in the 2024 presidential race, according to a JPMorgan Chase spokesperson. And Dimon has not contributed any money to the Trump campaign or to Trump’s Democratic rival, Kamala Harris.
The instant denial from the bank has not led Trump to take down the post, which has more than 3,500 reposts and more than 11,000 likes, even as he distanced himself from the claim when he was confronted about it after he landed in Augusta.
“I don’t know anything about it,” Trump said. When a reporter noted he had posted it on his social media platform, Trump suggested one of his aides had posted the claim.
When the reporter pressed him to comment, Trump replied: “I don’t know – was it him or no?” And when a reporter told him a spokesperson for the bank had confirmed it was false, Trump evaded responsibility: “Well, then, somebody is using his name.”
The post was the latest in a series of false claims Trump has advanced in recent weeks, which have become increasingly brazen with fewer than four weeks until the November election and have occurred at a higher clip.
At least part of the reason for the uptick in falsehoods is Trump’s obsession with news and posts about himself, and his impulse to repost anything politically positive for him without regard as to its veracity.
But the fake Dimon claim stands apart because of his significance to Trump, who has long admired Dimon’s success and would covet the peer recognition at a time when he has struggled with celebrity endorsements compared with Harris, who has received backing from the likes of Taylor Swift.
The Trump campaign had hoped that Dimon might speak at the Republican national convention in July, according to people familiar with the matter, but he did not end up accepting the invitation.
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Dimon is particularly noteworthy in corporate finance for his tenure at JP Morgan, which became the largest bank in the United States after he led the acquisition of the troubled banks Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual during the 2008 financial crisis.
As a result, Trump was pleased when Dimon offered some compliments about the Trump administration’s economic policies during an interview with CNBC at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland.
“Take a step back, be honest. He was kind of right about Nato, kind of right on immigration,” Dimon said in January. “He grew the economy quite well. Trade tax reform worked. He was right about some of China.”
Trump and his allies widely shared Dimon’s comments. This year, Trump suggested he would consider appointing Dimon his treasury secretary if he won the election, but later retracted the offer.