Trump and Dimon Are Talking Again After Yearslong Rift

America’s most powerful banker and the president have met twice in the past two months to talk about the economy, interest rates and trade

JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon visited the White House twice in the past two months, a sign of detente after years of tension between the head of America’s biggest bank and President Trump.

Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase

Last week, Dimon met with Trump in the Oval Office to discuss the economy, trade and financial regulation, people familiar with the matter said. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were also in attendance, the people said.

At the meeting, Dimon congratulated Trump on his recent trade deal with Japan. They discussed the continuing shortage of affordable housing and the impact of post-2008 financial crisis regulations on American homeownership, the people said.

Their conversation also broached a topic they have publicly disagreed on: interest rates. Trump has continually bashed Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell over the central bank’s monetary policy and has threatened to remove him. Dimon has been steadfast in his support of Powell and the Fed’s independence more broadly, adding that political attempts to force interest rates lower often have the opposite effect.

In last week’s meeting, Dimon told the president that interest rates could come down if the economy is sufficiently strong, a person familiar with the matter said. That message echoes what Bessent told Trump as he tried to make his case for not firing Powell, The Wall Street Journal previously reported.

Later in the week, Trump toured a construction project at the Fed that has become a point of contention for the president’s supporters against Powell. He said then he wasn’t planning to remove Powell, though Trump reiterated he would like rates lowered. On Wednesday, he again echoed calls for rates to go down, citing better-than-expected economic data.

The Fed on Wednesday stood pat again on interest rates, although two Trump-appointed governors dissented from the 12-person committee’s decision.

In June, Dimon had another meeting with Trump and other officials including Vice President JD Vance, the people said.

Before the summer meetings, Dimon and Trump hadn’t had a substantive conversation for years, the Journal reported. They had also lobbed rounds of public insults at each other over the years.

In the first administration, Dimon was among the CEOs who dissolved a council of leaders after Trump’s comments about racial tension in Charlottesville, Va. Dimon later compared Trump’s challenge of the 2020 election results to treason.

In 2023, Trump called Dimon “highly overrated” after Dimon urged business leaders to back Nikki Haley in the Republican primary. He has also accused JPMorgan of discriminating against conservatives.

But there have been signs that Dimon and Trump were looking to turn the page.

Dimon has often said that as the chief executive of America’s biggest bank, he wants to meet with leaders no matter their political ideology to help them improve the country. He declares himself a patriot who puts country above politics and his own bank.

In January, Dimon had said that the world should listen to Trump’s views and that he was making the right decisions on a number of matters. He has supported some of the new tariffs on foreign trading partners, especially those that help protect national security. He also has said that immigration at the Southern border needed to be addressed and has criticized Democrats for having “big hearts” and “little brains.”

When Trump’s April tariff announcements sent markets into turmoil, Dimon went on television, saying a trade war risked plunging the economy into a recession.

Trump later cited Dimon’s comments on the risks as a factor he considered before deciding to pause most of them on April 9. Trump has also said he respects Dimon’s view on the economy and the vast banking franchise he has built.

Write to Alexander Saeedy at alexander.saeedy@wsj.com and AnnaMaria Andriotis at annamaria.andriotis@wsj.com