President Donald Trump’s former top economic adviser just named a New York billionaire who he believes would make a “phenomenal president.”
And it’s not Trump.
Gary Cohn, who resigned as director of the National Economic Council earlier this year, told Reuters that JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has what it takes to run the country.
“Jamie would be a spectacular president,” he told the news agency. “After having seen the inside of the Oval Office and worked inside there for hours upon hours a day, it’s in many respects very similar to running a complex multi-national global” company.
Dimon got into a spat with Trump over the presidency after indicating he could run in 2020.
“I think I could beat Trump,” he said last week, according to CNBC. “Because I’m as tough as he is, I’m smarter than he is. I would be fine. He could punch me all he wants, it wouldn’t work with me. I’d fight right back.”
He quickly backtracked, but Trump fired back on Twitter, saying Dimon “doesn’t have the aptitude or ‘smarts’ & is a poor public speaker & nervous mess - otherwise he is wonderful.”
But Cohn indicated Dimon has the smarts ― as well as experience running a multinational bank, which would translate into success in the White House.
“The problems are different, the magnitude of the problems is different, the impact is different,” Cohn said. “But Jamie would be a phenomenal president.”
Cohn didn’t criticize Trump in his comments. He praised Trump for taking a tough stance with China and also said last year’s tax overhaul makes the United States “globally competitive.”