JPMorgan head says Trump tax law added $3.7B to its profit

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon lauded President Trump’s tax cuts, saying the legislation passed in 2017 boosted the bank’s net profit by $3.7 billion. 

“All things being equal (which they are not), the new lower tax rates added $3.7 billion to net income,” Dimon said in JPMorgan’s annual investor letter on Thursday.

“The new tax code establishes a business tax rate that will make the United States competitive around the world and frees US companies to bring back profits earned overseas,” Dimon added. “The cumulative effect of capital retained and reinvested over many years in the United States will help cultivate strong businesses and ultimately create jobs and increase wages.” 

The letter, which outlines the bank’s earning performance, said it made a record profit in 2018, with net income of $32.5 billion and $111.5 billion in sales, figures the bank said reflect “strong underlying performance across our businesses.”

{mosads}Democrats seized on JPMorgan’s announcement, railing against the tax plan as a giveaway to wealthy corporations and individuals.

“Democrats: RUN ADS ON THIS NOW,” Jon Favreau, a former Obama White House staffer and host of the popular progressive podcast “Pod Save America,” tweeted.

Democrats: RUN ADS ON THIS NOW https://t.co/k6QHf3Bapb

— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) April 4, 2019

“How about we start with you giving back the $3.7 billion J.P. Morgan made this year off the #GOPTaxScam that you lobbied for?” presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) added.

Great point, Jamie! How about we start with you giving back the $3.7 billion J.P. Morgan made this year off the #GOPTaxScam that you lobbied for? https://t.co/AYfaalpIY3

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) April 4, 2019

Democrats campaigned against Trump’s tax plan in midterm races last year, casting it as evidence that the president was looking out for wealthy friends and Republican donors at the expense of the working class.

Several 2020 presidential candidates have also sought to distance themselves from wealthy sources of political donations, with many shunning money from PACs.