So when he turns against Donald Trump and criticises the 47th US president’s repudiation of the old, multilateral, rules-based order, we should sit up and take notice.
asserted
we → turn → notice
The more so in that Dimon’s intervention comes just a month before the congressional midterms, where the Republicans are expected to receive a hammering.
A lifelong Democrat, Dimon has admittedly never been part of Trump’s inner circle and in the past year, relations between the two have deteriorated precipitously.
asserted
relations → come → two
He played no part in the undignified and fawning scramble for presidential favours after Trump’s election two years ago.
asserted
He → play → election
According to accounts, he wisely rebuffed soundings on serving in Trump’s second administration as Treasury secretary.
uncertain
he → accord → secretary
In January, moreover, Trump launched a $5bn lawsuit against Dimon and JPMorgan for allegedly de-banking him.
uncertain
Trump → launch → him
The bank says the president’s suit “has no merit”.
asserted
suit → say → merit
For his part, Dimon has been highly critical of Trump’s mooted plan to cap credit card interest rates at 10 per cent and he has refused to help fund Trump’s White House ballroom.
asserted
he → moot → ballroom
But he’s also been careful not to overstep the mark and to give credit where he thinks it is due.
asserted
it → overstep → credit
“Take a step back, be honest,” Dimon said in the run-up to Trump’s second stab at the presidency.
asserted
Dimon → say → presidency
He grew the economy quite well.
asserted
He → grow → economy
Tax reform worked.
asserted
reform → work → ?
Dimon’s remarks played a key role in rehabilitating Trump among the general run of US business leaders after the ignominy of the Capitol Hill riots.
asserted
remarks → play → riots
If someone as worldly, wise and seasoned as Dimon thinks Trump is basically right, then it sanitises and promotes what he stands for.
asserted
he → season → what
Be that as it may, judging by an op-ed he wrote in the Wall Street Journal last week, he now seems to have changed his mind.
uncertain
he → judge → mind
“A strong America with robust military and economic alliances is the foundation for a prosperous and peaceful world,” he wrote in an apparent rebuff of Trump’s MAGA-driven approach to allies, trade and international relations.
asserted
he → write → allies
In a recent interview, Peter Thiel, a long-standing Trump backer and a Republican mega donor, said he wished the president had chosen more competent people for his administration.
asserted
president → stand → administration
In an interview with Mathias Dopfner, chief executive of The Telegraph’s new owner Axel Springer, the Palantir co-founder accused Trump of “over-correcting for the mistakes of the first term with all these loyalty tests.
asserted
founder → accuse → tests
You got sort of an administration staffed by not very smart but very loyal people”.
asserted
You → get → people
But in another sign that the tide is turning against Trump-style politics, he said it anyway.
asserted
he → turn → it
Dimon’s suggestion is that a grand alliance be struck with European and other like-minded democracies such as Canada, Japan, Korea, Australia and Mexico.
asserted
alliance → strike → Canada
In return for free trade with the US, Europe would agree to full implementation of proposals by former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi for countering loss of economic competitiveness, turbocharging a virtuous circle of rising prosperity for both jurisdictions.
asserted
Europe → agree → jurisdictions
If this sounds very much like the old, post-war, pre-Trump contract, that’s because it is.
asserted
it → sound → contract
It would be the Western alliance reborn and a very welcome development all round.
asserted
It → reborn → ?
Yet it would be unwise to count on this happening in practice: political opposition in Europe to some of Draghi’s key recommendations remains strong.
asserted
opposition → count → recommendations
But Dimon’s suggestion shows that the US is not yet entirely lost to the cause of multilateral solutions.
asserted
US → show → solutions
It’s similar to what Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has been suggesting, only with the US at its centre, not as a potentially hostile force kicking in the other direction.
asserted
Carney → ’ → direction
Does Trump’s presidency mark a permanent change in the geopolitical and economic weather, or is he a temporary aberration?
asserted
he → mark → weather
Dimon’s musings suggest the latter.
asserted
musings → suggest → latter
So do the polls before next month’s midterms.
asserted
polls → do → midterms
The US economy is in many respects booming, but it is not an electorally friendly form of growth.
asserted
it → boom → growth
The leaders in this boom, the hyperscalers of the AI arms race, are generally unpopular with voters and though their investment spending binge generates plenty of jobs, it disguises a great hinterland of economic grievance and frustration.
asserted
it → generate → grievance
Much higher petrol, diesel and mortgage costs are wreaking havoc with the Republican vote, and it’s Trump who is getting the blame.
asserted
who → wreak → blame
Ridiculously, Trump gives himself an A+ for everything that’s happened in his second term.
asserted
that → give → term
Sadly for him, voters do not appear inclined to agree.
asserted
voters → appear → him
The president promised no more wars but then promptly started one.
asserted
president → promise → one
No matter, the Iranians would be crushed, and it would be over in weeks.
asserted
it → crush → weeks
Seven months later, it is still going and there is little sign of a lasting resolution.
asserted
it → go → resolution
The president promised lower interest rates and lower gas prices but all he has managed so far is the reverse.
asserted
he → promise → rates
It’s true that Gulf producers have found lots of workarounds for the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
asserted
producers → ’ → Hormuz
Exports of crude from the region are now said to be back to virtually pre-war levels.
asserted
Exports → say → levels
…and 16 more, not listed.
The Aporia
