(Bloomberg) -- President-elect Donald Trump ruled out giving a post to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon in his second-term administration in a jab at the prominent Wall Street chief executive officer.
“I respect Jamie Dimon, of JPMorgan Chase, greatly, but he will not be invited to be a part of the Trump Administration. I thank Jamie for his outstanding service to our Country!,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network on Thursday.
Dimon immediately responded to Trump at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit, moments after the president-elect’s statement.
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“First of all, I wish the president well, and thank you, it’s a very nice note. But I just want to tell the president also, I haven’t had a boss in 25 years and I’m not about ready to start,” Dimon said Thursday.
The exchange occurred on a day in which Trump made more high-profile selections for his new administration, including that of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services and Jay Clayton, the former chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission, as US Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
And at a gala at his Mar—a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday night, he said he would nominate North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum as Interior secretary.
Trump had previously said he would consider Dimon for Treasury secretary in a June interview with Bloomberg Businessweek but later disavowed that statement.
“He is somebody that I would consider, sure,” Trump said in the interview. In July, though, he said he had “never discussed, or thought of” Dimon for a role in his cabinet, adding that he did not know where that idea “came from, perhaps the Radical Left.”
Earlier: Trump Floated Jamie Dimon for Treasury Secretary, Then Denies It
Trump’s team is narrowing its options for Treasury secretary with Key Square Group LP founder Scott Bessent, Cantor Fitzgerald LP CEO Howard Lutnick and former US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer among the contenders.
He is expected to make a decision as soon as this week.
Dimon said that government officials are “going to be responsible for the most complicated geopolitical, military and geoeconomics situation the world has faced since World War II.”
The New York Times in October reported that Dimon had privately supported Trump’s general election rival, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, and told people that he would consider a role in her administration.
Dimon, though, has pledged to work with whoever was elected. His wife, Judy Dimon, supported Harris’ presidential bid, with donations and by canvassing voters in swing-state Michigan.
Here’s how Trump’s transition is shaping up on Thursday:
Veterans Chief
Trump named former Georgia Congressman Doug Collins to run the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our Active Duty Servicemembers, Veterans, and Military Families to ensure they have the support they need,” Trump said in a statement Thursday about Collins who left Congress in 2021.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is the second largest department in the federal government, with more than 400,000 employees. It’s the primary health care provider for more than 9.1 million military veterans and their families, operating 1,380 hospitals and clinics around the country.
That makes it one of the biggest consumers of medical equipment in the world. It’s long been the largest purchaser of hearing aids, but is increasingly involved in tele-health. Some of its fastest-growing budget items are in women’s health and childcare, addressing the growing number of female service members entering the system.
A 2014 scandal involving secret wait lists at VA hospitals — and the veterans who died waiting for care — shattered confidence in the system just as many Vietnam-era vets reached retirement age and new Iraq and Afghanistan veterans entered the system.
‘Golden Age’
Bessent, one of the top contenders for Treasury secretary under Trump, praised the president-elect’s economic agenda as one that would grow diverse sectors of the economy.
“Everyone asks me, ‘What do you tell President Trump he should do?’ I don’t have to tell Donald Trump he should do anything. He’s done it. We had a great economy under Trump 1.0,” Bessent said in an interview on Fox News’ Fox and Friends on Thursday.
“Under Donald Trump, we could have a golden age for the next four years. We can bring back the manufacturing. We can have energy dominance,” he added. “We’re going to have peace and we’re going to have this technology boom.”
The contest to be Trump’s second-term Treasury secretary has spilled into public view in recent days, with public and private jockeying among the potential picks.
Bessent, who was a prominent advocate for Trump during the campaign, has the support of a wide range of leaders across Trump’s coalition, including longtime allies Steve Bannon and Ralph Reed.
Lutnick, for his part, is making a play for the job himself, according to people familiar with the matter. Lutnick, who Trump tapped as transition co-chair, is among those pushing back against Bessent, saying the hedge fund manager is soft on key protectionist pledges, including tariffs, according to the people familiar.
Fox News’ morning show is a friendly venue for the incoming president and his conservative allies — and a way to garner the attention of Trump, an avid cable news viewer.
Bessent on Thursday hailed Trump’s electoral coalition that drew on support from prominent Wall Street executives and business leaders, including Elon Musk — the world’s richest person — as well as from working class Americans frustrated by high costs for groceries and housing and worried about the impact of President Joe Biden’s policies on jobs and wages.
“Think about the coalition that Donald Trump assembled. This was the greatest political comeback in history, greatest political comeback in history, and it was a combination of working-class Americans and Elon Musk, the richest person the world. Who else could do that, but Donald Trump,” he said.
Personnel Chief
Trump is selecting Sergio Gor, the co-founder of a conservative publishing company that produces the president-elect’s books, to head the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, according to reports from Semafor and the New York Times.
Donald Trump Jr., the president-elect’s son who helped start the publishing company with Gor, praised the selection in a post on X, writing: “Awesome news. Sergio will be great!”
As head of the office, Gor will help vet potential incoming employees and will be responsible for helping fill thousands of jobs across the federal agencies.
Crucial to staffing Trump’s White House in a second term will be tapping officials deemed loyal to the president-elect, who has bristled at criticism from former aides, and ensuring that employees align with the values and goals of the incoming administration.
Multiple officials led the office during Trump’s first term, including his longtime aide John McEntee. McEntee would go on to found a dating app backed by billionaire Peter Thiel.
‘Screaming From a Podium’
Alina Habba, one of Trump’s top lawyers and his legal spokesperson, ruled out serving as the president-elect’s press secretary following reports that she was under consideration for one of the most visible roles in his incoming administration.
“While I am flattered by the support and speculation, the role of Press Secretary is not a role I am considering. Although I love screaming from a podium I will be better served in other capacities,” Habba wrote Thursday on X.
The press secretary is the face of the president’s daily messaging. It’s a role that holds particular importance to Trump who watched his press secretaries’ performance closely during his first term.
Trump’s press secretaries regularly clashed with reporters as they defended him during his first term — at times promoting unfounded claims and going for stretches without regular public briefings.
Gaetz Selection
Senator James Lankford of Oklahoma on Thursday said Republicans in the chamber would handle Trump’s nomination of Matt Gaetz for attorney general as they would any other selection.
“We’re going to do the Matt Gaetz confirmation like all the rest of them,” Lankford said on Fox and Friends Thursday.
Asked about potential pressure from Trump to see the nomination through, Lankford said he expected Trump to “stay engaged in the process,” calling the president-elect a “hands-on leader.”
“President Trump has put a bunch of nominations out there. We’ve got to get on with those very, very quickly, when the new Congress is sworn in,” Lankford said.
As Trump’s team take shape, one of his most startling picks so far has been tapping Gaetz for attorney general. Trump is enlisting a Florida Republican who was the subject of a House inquiry into sexual misconduct allegations to head the nation’s top law enforcement agency — one that will shape the administration’s agenda on immigration, crime and other hot-button issues.
Gaetz, 42, is a staunch Trump ally but a polarizing figure within his own caucus. Gaetz resigned his seat in the House on Wednesday night after Trump made his selection public.
The appointment threatens to test Trump’s sway over Senate Republicans who will regain control of the chamber in January and are tasked with helping confirm the president-elect’s nominees.
The GOP is expected to hold a 53-47 seat majority, so it would take just four Republican senators to sink his nomination.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who Gaetz helped topple from his post, predicted that Gaetz would not get confirmed.
--With assistance from Saleha Mohsin, Nancy Cook, Justin Sink and Lisa Abramowicz.
(Updates with Burgum, in sixth paragraph.)
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