Jamie Dimon Appeared on Maria Bartiromo to Warn of Recession Because He Figured Trump Would Tune In — And He Was Right
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon’s reportedly intentional message on tariffs during a Wednesday interview with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo’s show may have been the nudge President Donald Trump needed to take the leap on his stunning tariffs pause.
As financial markets trembled under his sweeping new policy, Trump admitted he caught Dimon’s interview with Bartiromo on the subject in the hours before he unexpectedly announced a 90-day pause on those very tariffs.
One source noted to the Wall Street Journal that while Dimon’s appearance on Mornings With Maria had been scheduled some time ago, the banker “knew that Trump and his inner circle often watched Fox” and that his message would likely get through to them.
Dimon, in the candid appearance, warned a recession was a “likely outcome” of the White House’s aggressive trade play, although the take was praise-led and camouflaged in his wider endorsement tariffs in theory as he urged patience.
“I’m taking a calm view, but it could get worse,” he said, recommending that the president give Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent more time to negotiate.
The point certainly registered with one viewer, the president, who apparently took note and directly cited Dimon’s interview with Bartiromo during a press gaggle at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, after announcing the tariffs pause.
When a reporter asked whether it was changes in the bond markets that had persuaded him to “reverse course,” Trump replied that he had noted on Tuesday that “people were getting a little queasy.”
Another reporter asked: “Mr. President, did anyone influence your decision? Did you speak with anyone you know? Jamie Dimon? Did you speak with anyone?”
Trump replied: “I watched Jamie Dimon and Maria Bartiromo’s show this morning, and he was very good. He said that actually made the statement to the effect that something had to be done with the tariffs and trade, he said, look, you know, at some point, but he said something has to be done with tariffs and trade. He understood it. He’s very smart and very genius financially. He’s done a fantastic job at the bank and he knows that. Everybody knows that anybody that’s even a little bit smart knows it.”
Doubling down on the importance of his tariffs push, he added: “It wasn’t sustainable. What was happening. Somebody had to pull the trigger. I was willing to pull the trigger. This should have been done long ago.”
During an Oval Office appearance late Wednesday, Trump was asked again about how and when he came to the decision. He did not mention the interview but said he’d been considering it for a few days, despite assertions from his own staffers that the tariffs would not be paused in the days leading up to the announcement.
For a period of time, I wouldn’t say this morning. Over the last few days, I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve be dealing with Scott, with Howard [Lutnick], with some other people that are very professional. And I think it probably came together early this morning, fairly early this morning. Just wrote it up. We didn’t have the use of, have access to lawyers… we just wrote it, we wrote it up from our hearts, right? It was written from the heart. And I think it was well written, too, but it was written from the heart. It was written as something that I think was very positive for the world and for us. And we don’t want to hurt countries that don’t need to be hurt. And they all want to negotiate.
Dimon was not the only one preaching about a “likely” recession and calling for a tariff stay for negotiations, Trump was also under pressure from ranking Republicans and billionaire donors but it’s not beyond possibility that Dimon message — which the president admitted made it straight to the Oval Office — may have nudged Trump to take the leap on a pause he claims he’d been considering for some days.
Watch via Fox News.
