Big Bank CEOs Reckon With Their Lack of Influence on Trump
AnnaMaria Andriotis, Gina Heeb and Alexander Saeedy
6 min read
Traders at the New York Stock Exchange. - Michael Nagle/Bloomberg News
Last week, bank CEOs including JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, Goldman Sachs’s David Solomon, Bank of America’s Brian Moynihan and Wells Fargo’s Charlie Scharf were in Washington for an industry meeting when the matter of communications with the White House came up.
Executives in the room took turns saying when they last spoke to President Trump. The general response: not recently. Many of them said they hadn’t had a substantive discussion with Trump since the pandemic hammered markets in 2020, according to people familiar with the meeting.
The nation’s most powerful bankers have a unique lens into markets and the economy, often making them valued advisers and sounding boards for top government officials.
While some bankers have been talking to administration officials during the tariff-driven turbulence of the past week, including Vice President JD Vance and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, top executives sense their opinions don’t carry much weight with the president.
Big banks’ lack of direct influence during the latest market turmoil is in contrast to past crises such as the pandemic or the 2008 financial meltdown, when Washington worked hand-in-hand with them to calm the waters. When the Covid-19 pandemic began, Trump called the bank CEOs to a televised meeting where they went around the table talking about the measures they were taking to settle the economy.
This time, bankers are uncertain about Trump’s endgame on tariffs, and uneasy about the impact on the global economy as well as their own businesses. A Wall Street that had been excited for Trump, and the unleashing of animal spirits in markets, is now deflated.
Deals are on ice, and heightened recession risks raise the prospect of loan losses. Advising clients on what comes next is next to impossible without knowing whether another change in policy—such as deals with countries on tariffs—is around the corner.
The White House said it maintains regular contact with business leaders and industry groups.
“The only special interest guiding President Trump’s decision-making, however, is the best interest of the American people,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said.
Goldman delivers feedback
Some banks have heard from White House officials looking for feedback on the health of the banking system and executives’ read on the economy.
For instance, senior administration officials including Vance, Bessent, White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett have turned to Goldman Sachs senior executives for insight.
Among the questions, according to people familiar with the matter: What are the markets telling you? What are you hearing from market participants? What are you hearing from corporate clients?
Goldman executives told the Trump officials what had seemed clear, given that the stock market had just been pummeled: Their corporate clients had some negative things to say. The officials were mostly in listening mode.
Other attempts to get through to the White House on tariffs haven’t been productive. A meeting last week between bank CEOs and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick left several attendees frustrated after he told them to get on board with tariffs, The Wall Street Journal reported.
How banks’ businesses are doing will become more apparent in the coming days when they start reporting their first-quarter results. Though the turmoil came after the quarter ended, CEOs will likely convey their views on conference calls with analysts.
Some businesses such as trading will likely benefit from the market volatility, and corporate clients that need capital to manage through the turmoil could wind up borrowing more. Other operations are likely to get hit—particularly dealmaking.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. - Cyril Marcilhacy/Bloomberg News
At Goldman Sachs, some deals that were moving along as recently as early last week came to a grinding halt. At Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Bank of America, bankers are fretting that deals valued at more than $10 billion might be on hold indefinitely. Many companies that were in buying mode with stock can’t or don’t want to proceed given the steep market declines. All-cash buyers are now wondering whether they are better off holding on to their money.
One potential merger between regional banks, which looked on track when their two CEOs met last week, could be in jeopardy, said a person familiar with the matter. A downturn would threaten to hurt the quality of a bank’s loan books, making a deal less attractive.
“It is certain that the near-term uncertainty will be the enemy of making big decisions,” said James Hu, a merger-and-acquisition lawyer at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton.
Tearing up old forecasts
Most on Wall Street previously said the impact of tariffs would be manageable. Now, they are realizing that Trump’s campaign promises to impose broad tariffs weren’t empty threats.
Just a day before Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement in the Rose Garden, JPMorgan head equities strategist Dubravko Lakos-Bujas told clients he believed the tariffs were largely a negotiating ploy. He said their announcement could presage a buying opportunity for stocks.
He wasn’t alone in having to dramatically update his forecasts. After Liberation Day, KKR, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan all said the tariffs would likely help cause a recession. On Tuesday, Morgan Stanley updated its forecasts and said it expected an even deeper recession caused by the tariffs.
A private-equity executive said his firm was gaming out the effects of tariffs on its portfolio companies for the third time since January. The committee that oversees his firm’s flagship fund told employees they could keep working on deals but that the firm wouldn’t be moving forward with any of them until there was clarity.
“We’re not signing anything at last week’s prices,” the executive said.
Some found moments of levity amid the chaos. In a webinar, a strategist for JPMorgan’s asset-management arm brought on a pair of fake penguins he said were trade representatives from the remote Heard Island and McDonald Islands. The territory is home to little besides Antarctic wildlife but was still hit with Trump’s tariffs.
The strategist thanked the penguins for joining him by tossing them a toy fish.
President Trump announcing new tariffs last week, as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listened. - Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press
