Trump lashes out at JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon after mocking comments

US president calls banker 'poor public speaker' and 'nervous mess'

President and CEO of JPMorgan Chase Co. Jamie Dimon arrives to testify before a Senate Banking Committee hearing on Capitol Hill (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Donald Trump has hit back at the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, after the bank executive suggested he could beat the president in a national election.

“The problem with banker Jamie Dimon running for President is that he doesn’t have the aptitude or ‘smarts’ & is a poor public speaker & nervous mess,” Mr Trump tweeted on Thursday, adding that the banker is otherwise “wonderful”.

“I’ve made a lot of bankers, and others, look much smarter than they are with my great economic policy!” the president continued.

Mr Dimon took swipes at Mr Trump during an event at his bank’s headquarters in New York on Wednesday, saying he was smarter than the president, and just as tough.

“I would be fine,” the 62-year-old said of a contest with Mr Trump, according to CNBC. “He could punch me all he wants, it wouldn’t work with me. I’d fight right back.”

He added: “And by the way, this wealthy New Yorker actually earned his money. It wasn’t a gift from Daddy.”

Mr Dimon later backtracked on the comments, saying he wasn’t running for president and “should not have said it”. The outburst, he added, “proves I wouldn’t make a good politician”.

“I get frustrated because I want all sides to come together to help solve big problems,” he said in a statement.

Mr Dimon previously served on the White House business advisory council, and was reportedly considered for the role of Mr Trump’s treasury secretary.

He refused to publicly disavow the former businessman in the early days of his presidency, but later issued a strong rebuke of the president’s response to a white supremacist rally in Virginia.

“I strongly disagree with President Trump’s reaction to the events that took place in Charlottesville over the past several days,” he said at the time. “Racism, intolerance and violence are always wrong.”

Nevertheless, Mr Dimon – who has previously described himself as “barely a Democrat” – gave Mr Trump high marks for slashing taxes and regulations in his annual letter to shareholders this year. And he had some criticism for Democrats on Wednesday as well, saying they need to “get their act together” before the 2020 election and start supporting businesses.