Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein isn’t too keen on a White House occupied by Donald Trump. In fact, for Blankfein, it’s a terrifying prospect to have Trump’s “finger on the button.” And the rest of Wall Street and the financial industry feel the same as Blankfein.
Essentially, Blankfein feels Trump and his statements are outright “wacky.”
Speaking at a Wall Street Journal leadership event on Wednesday, prior to the Republican primary debate, Blankfein explained that Trump’s substantial gains in the polls represents the American voters’ desire for deal makers as opposed to ideologues.
“We’ve put together a country that lets everyone into Washington with an absolute pledge not to compromise on anything,” Blankfein said. “And then Trump comes along and talks the language of dealing.”
Blankfein likened Trump’s rise in U.S. politics to that of Andrew Jackson’s momentous White House win in the 1800s. Jackson was seen as the unconventional populist who had railed against the elite, which drew large support from average people.
“We’re being kind of dismissive of things,” he added. “But people must’ve dismissed that.”
Trump has already conceded that he will lose a lot of friends on Wall Street, much of whom have supported the Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush campaigns (SEE: Crony Alert: Wall Street banking on Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton in the White House). Some of his plans consist of reining in CEO pay and eliminating the carried interest loophole and making hedge funds pay higher taxes (SEE: I Love Taxes: 2016 Republican presidential candidates offering their own tax schemes).
“Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton will continue to let Wall Street and the ‘hedge fund guys’ rip off the people by paying no or very little in taxes,” Trump said in a statement to Politico. “They have total and complete control of Hillary, Jeb and others running. My campaign is self- funded. The only people that have control of me are the people of the United States.”
Despite the disdain that many on Wall Street have for Trump’s campaign, there doesn’t seem to be any political organization in sight to stop Trump. Instead, they may just be allocating money not only to the Bush and Clinton campaigns but also to the John Kasich, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker and perhaps Carly Fiorina campaigns. (SEE: Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton, Jeb Bush bought by hedge funds)
It seems like the only ally Trump has on Wall Street is Carl Icahn, who he says will become the Treasury Secretary if elected president.
Photo by Paul Elledge Photography
If ever there was proof that CNN plays favorites, this debate was it. The whole debate was geared to screw Trump and push Fiorino. And I’m a Democrat. I just want fairness. Is that really too much too ask?