Trump may give job to Wall Street CEO in exchange for $100M in campaign cash: Peter Navarro

21 May 2024

Former President Donald Trump appears to be dangling a position in his administration to a notorious billionaire Wall Street CEO should the potential benefactor agree to raise a nine-figure sum for his campaign.

According to Peter Navarro — Trump's imprisoned trade advisor serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress — the 45th president of the United States may be open to giving a role to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon for a price. Navarro's remarks seemed somewhat in jest, given that he referenced the role of Dimon and other prominent financiers in the outsourcing of labor.

"I’m sure if Jamie raises $100 million for Trump 2024 and doesn’t hedge his Biden bet, there may be an ambassadorship somewhere in Asia where JPMorgan helped offshore millions of American jobs," Navarro told Semafor from behind bars. "Frankly, [Blackstone CEO] Steve Schwarzman’s unforgivable alleged unregistered foreign lobbyist activities in weakening the China trade deal has made it difficult for those of us in Trump World to trust that Wall Street denizens like Dimon, [Citadel CEO] Ken Griffin, and Schwarzman will ever represent Main Street."

While it's unclear if the offer is serious, Navarro's suggestion that Dimon could be rewarded for raising $100 million isn't out of the question, given a recent meeting Trump had at Mar-a-Lago with fossil fuel industry executives and lobbyists. During that meeting, the former president appeared to promise a slew of favorable policies directed toward the oil and gas industry if attendees raised $1 billion for his campaign.

The Washington Post reported that the meeting was arranged by billionaire oil baron Harold Hamm as a way for extractive industry leaders to have a direct audience with the ex-president. Politico additionally reported that industry leaders have already been busy preparing various executive orders to have ready for Trump's signature the day he takes office, should he win.

"The contrast between the two candidates on climate policy could not be more stark. Biden has called global warming an 'existential threat,' and over the last three years, his administration has finalized more than 100 new environmental regulations aimed at cutting air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, restricting toxic chemicals, and conserving public lands and waters," wrote the Post's Josh Dawsey and Maxine Joselow. "In comparison, Trump has called climate change a 'hoax,' and his administration weakened or wiped out more than 125 environmental rules and policies over four years."

Semafor also asked Navarro about whether he thinks former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and former National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn — whom he criticized as "globalists" — would return to serve in Trump's White House if he wins the election. Navarro scoffed at the prospect of Trump reaching out to Cohn, saying he "did everything he could to block Trump’s trade agenda."

"Mnuchin did everything he could as well to stop or soften Trump’s trade agenda and regularly clashed with [former Commerce Secretary Wilbur] Ross, [former U.S. Trade Representative Robert] Lighthizer, and myself," Navarro said. "Together, Cohn and Mnuchin prove, as I wrote in my Taking Back Trump’s America book, that Bad Personnel is both Bad Policy and Bad Politics."

Peter Navarro was sentenced for defying a subpoena from the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, which he called a "kangaroo court." The committee called him to testify on his role in concocting the scheme by which Trump hoped to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. That scheme involved alternate slates of electors being presented from swing states President Joe Biden narrowly won, thereby causing a dispute that would result in Republican majorities in Congress deciding the election in Trump's favor.

Navarro's sentence is expected to conclude in July, and he told Semafor he hopes to be able to speak at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin this summer after he's released. His latest book, The New MAGA Deal, is due to be published and on shelves in time for the convention.

Click here to read Navarro's full interview with Semafor.

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