JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon Tells Maria Bartiromo Recession ‘Likely’ as Markets Suffer Trump Tariffs
JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon believes a recession may be “a likely outcome” as markets grapple with the effects of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
Speaking with Maria Bartiromo on the Fox Business Network’s Mornings With Maria Wednesday, Dimon was asked point-blank: “Do you personally expect a recession?”
“I am going to defer to my economists at this point, but I think probably that’s a likely outcome,” Dimon replied.
Read the full exchange here:
JAMIE DIMON: We haven’t had a real recession, and COVID was so, so — COVID was so short, I almost don’t include it. I think you’ll see more credit problems than people have seen in a long time.
MARIA BARTIROMO: And yet you’ve got to … Your different groups at JPMorgan. You say JPMorgan’s going to be fine, but we could see a softening of the macro story.
DIMON: Yeah. So JP — [laughter] I did say to the people 10%, I think we just got a little sloppy the the last a five years. I’m kind of mad at myself, I remind people what kills companies is complacency, arrogance, bureaucracy. I was talking about Sears and A&P and Eastman Kodak — it’s amazing that companies just get too lax, and E did that too. We put some head count controls in place. I call it just like going for a run and eating your spinach. It’s not a big deal. We can handle that, and we’ll become a better company. People having a lot of fun, raising their hand and saying, ‘Why are we doing this? Can we cut it out?’ I say, ‘Go ahead, you’ve got my permission.’
BARTIROMO: Are you hearing that from CEOs as well, are they now going to start pulling it in and cutting back on various expenses?
DIMON: I think you’re going to see a little bit of that, yeah.
BARTIROMO: How significant? Do you personally expect a recession?
DIMON: I am going to defer to my — at this point, but I think probably that’s a likely outcome.
BARTIROMO: Markets, when you see a 2,000, 2,000-point declining it sort of feeds ifen to itself, doesn’t it? It makes it feel like you’re losing money in your 401(k), in your pension, you’ve got to cut back.
DIMON: I always a remind people, markets aren’t always right, but sometimes they are. I think this time they are right because they’re pricing in uncertainty at at the actual company level. And how it affects consumer sentiment, it’s hard to tell. The consumer still has jobs, wages are going up at the low end, but if companies start account cutting back, yeah, consumer sentiment and business sentiment changes. I think you’ve already seen business sentiment change a little bit. No one’s wishing for that. Hopefully, if there is one, it’ll be short. But I do think fixing tease the tariff issues and trade would be a good thing to do. That will get one major uncertainty behind us. We have the strongest economy in the world, be good not to add to the uncertainty out there.
Dimon’s remarks to Bartiromo were the second instance of him expressing his opposition to Trump’s tariffs in one week.
In his annual letter to shareholders published Monday, Dimon — in a section titled, “America and the world are at a critical crossroads: comprehensive action and leadership are imperative now” — warned of the potential impact of the president’s tariffs.
It was a very different note than the one Dimon expressed as recently as January. In an interview with CNBC from Davos at the World Economic Forum, Dimon downplayed the impact of tariffs — and argued the national security benefits could outweigh any hit to the economy.
Watch above via Fox Business.
