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JPMorgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon is offering up details about his one-on-one meeting with New York City’s Democratic Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“I had a great meeting with Mamdani, meaning it was pleasant, you know, but I said everything I wanted to say,” Dimon told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo at the second annual Reagan National Economic Forum. “I’ve seen mayors grow into the job.”
“I mean, he’s running the city with 300,000 employees now, he’s never had a job like that. And I’ve seen mayors who just, they fail abysmally because they can’t administer themselves out of a paper bag, or ideology blinds them to practical, realistic, real-world policy. And so we’ll see. And, you know, if I can help them do the good stuff, I’d be happy to do that,” he continued.
Last Monday, Dimon and Mamdani met in person at the bank’s new headquarters in Manhattan, as Mamdani intensifies his outreach to Wall Street leaders following backlash over proposals to raise taxes on wealthy New Yorkers.
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The meeting was “constructive and the tone was friendly,” a JPMorgan spokesperson told Reuters. According to City Hall, the pair discussed reducing government waste, cutting red tape tied to development projects and expanding public-private partnerships. JPMorgan said the conversation also focused on New York City’s competitiveness.
“Good policy is free. I feel like telling the politicians, don’t try to raise more taxes or spend more money, sit down and fix policy,” Dimon said Friday. “And I think you can go 1% faster. I literally believe that.”
Bartiromo directly confronted Dimon about Mamdani’s controversial progressive campaign tactics, specifically a video the mayor filmed targeting billionaire Ken Griffin.
“Yeah, but, Jamie, give me a break,” Bartiromo said. “He did a video in front of Ken Griffin’s house. I mean, you know, that’s a security issue.”
“I agree,” Dimon responded. “My guess is he probably regrets that, but you got to ask him that.”
Dimon also explained that he walked Mamdani through what he described as the realities of governing a major city, warning that governance is not about morality slogans but rather about economic competition for talent and safety.
“The competition, you know, there’s taxes and there’s individual taxes, corporate taxes, there’s real estate taxes, there are other hidden taxes. And then there’s quality of life, which has nothing to do with ideology. It’s like crime, police, sanitation, hospitals,” the CEO said. “And I want him to succeed.”
“My opinion was, he was very polite. It was very earnest. We had a very good conversation, but I said everything I wanted to say,” Dimon continued. “I got to talk about affordable housing and child care. Most people want it. If you do it badly, it would be a disaster… Do it right. There are studies that can tell you how to do it right. Get people who know what they’re doing and implement proper policies.”
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