President Trump privately polled top CEOs for ideas on how to make US voters’ lives more affordable – even as he predicted a deregulation-driven economic boom on par with the Reagan and Clinton eras, The Post has learned.
Trump’s remarks came during a private Wednesday dinner at the White House that included some of Wall Street and corporate America’s biggest names, among them JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon.
While he stopped short of specifically mentioning an “affordability crisis” as alleged by Democrats, Trump appeared to concede that parts of the American dream have become out of reach, and asked the CEOs if they had any solutions, according to one CEO in attendance.
“He spoke a lot about affordability and what we can do from a market perspective to address it,” the CEO told The Post.
Other bigwigs at the dinner included Larry Fink of Blackrock, Ted Pick of Morgan Stanley, David Solomon of Goldman Sachs, Nasdaq’s Adena Friedman and Steve Schwarzman, CEO of private equity powerhouse Blackstone.
Also in attendance were Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
Trump is said to have “controlled the room” of Wall Street and business heavyweights, sprinkling pitches on his pro-growth economic policies with his trademarked charisma and sense of humor.
Still, Trump raised eyebrows when he blurted out that he believes his economic policies – which include stiff tariffs on foreign goods — could make the US economy grow “between 5 and 6 percent,” according to an attendee.
The CEOs didn’t confront Trump on his prediction, which is far higher than most optimistic forecasts, including the 4% growth outlook from the Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank. But privately, many had doubts given the current economic headwinds.
Some in attendance told The Post that even Trump’s economic advisers are skeptical of such growth. Meanwhile, they are concerned about next year’s midterms following the recent Democratic gubernatorial wins and Zohran Mamdani’s election as New York mayor.
“I sure hope the president is right about 6% growth,” another CEO told The Post. “But I don’t see how we get there. His people are worried as well particularly about affordability but they won’t tell him. He’s surrounded by a lot of ‘yes men.’”
The CEOs also discussed ways to open the markets up to average people so they can put their retirement savings in the stock market, which if history is any guide, provides the highest returns for investors than other assets, according to people who were present.
“Trump is really interested in making sure we have an economy of owners, not renters with all their money in the bank,” said another CEO who asked not to be named.
Democrats have lately seized on persistent inflation to attack a Trump economic agenda that includes not only tax cuts and deregulation but also tariffs. Trump has claimed the so-called affordability crisis is a “con job” by Democrats, and has attacked Fed Chairman Jerome Powell for not cutting interest rates to boost home ownership.
Trump “has been focused on reversing the economic crisis he inherited from Joe Biden since day one,” according to a White House official who is authorized to speak to the media, adding that the president made time to speak with many of the attendees one-on-one.
“The president is always working with business leaders to implement his aggressive, pro-growth agenda to decrease prices, increase wages, drive job growth, and fuel the economy,” the spokesperson added. “This dinner was no exception to his constant partnership with leaders in the private sector.”
Trump on Wednesday also weighed in on immigration (US needs skilled workers from overseas through visas), how to address the country’s massive budget deficit (we need to grow the economy to balance the budget) and how Wall Street can help people afford homes and other staples of middle class life.
Though the tone of the dinner was festive, the country’s corporate class, many of them Democrats, have often had a fraught relationship with the president over tariffs even if they have embraced other MAGA policies such as deregulation and tax cuts.
Trump has publicly called out the likes of Dimon and Bank of America chief Brian Moynihan for “debanking” him, his businesses after he left office in 2021 following his first term, and many right-leaning industries such as gun manufacturing.
Officials at both banks blame the debanking of Trump and others on pressure from the Biden administration to cut off ties with right-wing or heterodox industries such as crypto, private prisons and anything associated with firearms.
As reported exclusively by The Post, Moynihan was apparently snubbed by Trump over the banking issues, and his progressive positions on other hot-button cultural issues such as Environmental Social Governance investing and Diversity Equity and Inclusion hiring practices.
Moynihan is also chairman of the Brown University Corporation, which held a controversial vote to possibly divest from companies that do business in Israel following pressure from left-wing students and faculty over the country’s military response to the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre of innocent Israelis The vote ultimately failed.
A Bank of America spokesman had no comment.
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