Wall Street Opposition to Trump Dropping, Investors Say

Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump arrives for a rally in Sioux Center, Iowa, on Jan. 5, 2024. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Multiple Wall Street investors appear to be conceding that former President Donald Trump will likely win the GOP primary for the 2024 presidential race.

Charles Myers, a former vice chairman at investment bank Evercore and a Biden fundraiser, said that many investors “have resigned themselves to a Trump primary win and don’t want to throw good money after bad trying to stop him,” reported CNBC.

That claim was made just before the former president won the New Hampshire primary against former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. He also secured the first win of the primary season earlier this month in Iowa.

Meanwhile, multiple outlets, citing anonymous sources, reported Wednesday that billionaire LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman paused funding to Ms. Haley after her loss in the state. Neither Mr. Hoffman nor Ms. Haley have publicly commented on the reports.

“I think unless there is some catastrophic crisis like the [Jan. 6, 2021] insurrection, they think of themselves as stewards of other people’s money and they don’t want to take a position that divides their workforce, their investors, and their customers. They are mindful of their different constituencies,” Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a senior associate dean at the Yale School of Management, told the outlet.

“They are not out there to be political ward heelers. They are not out there doing door-to-door campaign solicitations. They are there to run their companies,” he added.

“There is not a conversation you have here, where I am not asked to handicap the election,” Atlantic Council CEO Fred Kempe told CNBC.  “People are calling it the ‘Trump put.’ They’re hedging Trump.”

A longtime investor and multi-billionaire, Ken Langone, is slated to host a fundraiser for former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, the outlet reported.

But he told the Financial Times in an interview that he is willing to hand her “a nice sum of money” but it may only come after the New Hampshire primary, which she lost. “If she doesn’t get traction in New Hampshire, you don’t throw money down a rat hole,” Mr. Langone said.

Meanwhile, President Trump’s allies ramped up pressure on Ms. Haley to leave the race before the polls had closed, but she vowed after the results were announced to continue her campaign. Speaking to supporters, she intensified her criticism of the former president, pitching herself as a unifying candidate who would usher in generational change.

At the same time, the former president can now say he is the first Republican presidential candidate to win open races in Iowa and New Hampshire since both states began leading the election calendar in 1976, a striking sign of how rapidly Republicans have rallied around him to make him their nominee for the third consecutive time.

Jamie Dimon’s Comments

Last week, a major Wall Street figure, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, said he agreed with multiple statements and policies that were made by the former president, notably on immigration, taxes, and the economy.

“Take a step back, be honest. He was kind of right about NATO, kind of right on immigration. He grew the economy quite well. Trade tax reform worked. He was right about some of China,” he stated during a recent CNBC event. “He wasn’t wrong about some of these critical issues, and that’s why” people voted for him, he continued.

“I wish the Democrats would think a little more carefully when they talk about MAGA,” Mr. Dimon also said during the event, referencing the “Make America Great Again” slogan. “I think this negative talk about MAGA is going to hurt Biden’s election campaign,” he added.

Democrats and President Joe Biden “are basically scapegoating them, [saying] that you are like him,” the CEO said. “I don’t think they’re voting for Trump because of his family values,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.