Wall Street’s ‘Dirty Harry’ question on Trump

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May 28, 2024 View in browser
 
POLITICO Morning Money

By Sam Sutton

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QUICK FIX

Slowly but surely, the billionaires and investors who shunned former President Donald Trump after the 2020 election are returning to the fold.

Wall Street backers of the Republican real estate mogul are betting that Trump’s volatile temperament and bombastic flexing of his authority could actually quell recent geopolitical turmoil that has created uncertainty for global investors. By their thinking, finding solutions to the conflicts in Ukraine and Israel, as well as the U.S.’s strained relationship with China, will require a tougher posture than what President Joe Biden has offered.

To that end, some c-suite executives view Trump’s unpredictability and willingness to use American power to his advantage as a positive, Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer told MM over the holiday weekend.

“If Trump is willing to use that power — especially to brandish it vis-a-vis other countries that aren’t doing things that we like — more often than not [those countries are] going to try and find a way to get along,” Bremmer, who specializes in assessing geopolitical risks,

Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman cited concerns with current economic and foreign policies in saying Friday that he will back Trump. Citadel’s Ken Griffin — who has not endorsed Trump — went so far as to say that a November victory for the former president would lead to “a global perception of a stronger America,” at the Qatar Economic Forum earlier this month.

“But let’s keep in mind that you also have to get lucky. And — you know —Trump’s environment in 2016 to 2020 was a much more calm geopolitical environment. The environment right now is much more problematic,” said Bremmer.

He added: “You can see a significant upside and a significant downside with Trump coming in. The question you need to ask yourself — believe me, Wall Street is better at asking this than anybody else – is how lucky do you feel?”

For a growing number of power brokers, the answer to that “Dirty Harry”-style question is “lucky enough.” 

Schwarzman became the latest, joining a cohort that already included oil and natural gas executive Harold Hamm, hedge fund investor Nelson Peltz and hotel tycoon Robert Bigelow. Nearly four years after denouncing the insurrection that followed Trump’s remarks on Jan. 6, 2021, Schwarzman said that rising antisemitism — as well as economic, immigration and foreign policy concerns — prompted him to examine the consequences of the upcoming election with “greater urgency.”

Trump is leveraging the GOP donor class’s dissatisfaction with Biden on all the above on the fundraising trail — particularly with regard to Israel. At a recent donor roundtable in New York, Trump said he would expel pro-Palestinian student protesters from the U.S. and touted his administration’s relocation of the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, The Washington Post reported.

While Trump might reclaim some friends on Wall Street with that pitch, it’s far from clear if it will be a successful approach should he secure a second term.

“Trump could be the guy that ends the wars. Trump could be the guy that makes the wars a lot worse,” Bremmer said. “Both are possible.”

IT’S TUESDAY — It’s good to be back. What’d I miss? As always, send tips and suggestions to me at ssutton@politico.com and to Zach at zwarmbrodt@politico.com.

 

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DRIVING THE WEEK

TUESDAY: Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari will speak on a panel at the Barclays-CEPR International Monetary Policy Forum at 8:55 a.m. …Consumer confidence for May is out at 10 a.m. … Fed Governor Lisa Cook and San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly will speak on a panel about artificial intelligence at 1 p.m. …

WEDNESDAY: CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam will speak in a fireside chat at the CCP Global Annual General Meeting 2024 at 6 a.m. … New York Fed President John Williams will speak at a community roundtable at 1:45 p.m. … The Fed’s beige book is out at 2 p.m. … Senate Banking has a hearing on the economic and health impacts of threats to reproductive rights at 2 p.m. …Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will speak at the American Economic Association Conference at 7 p.m.

THURSDAY: The first revision of first quarter GDP is out at 8:30 a.m. … Williams will speak at the New York Economic Club at noon … Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Lorie Logan will speak at a Borderplex Alliance event at 5 p.m.

FRIDAY: PCE, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, for April is out at 8:30 a.m. …

Treasury weighs in on voluntary carbon markets — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will unveil the Biden administration’s framework for voluntary carbon markets later today at an event hosted by Bloomberg Philanthropies. “We want this market to succeed, but that requires a widespread commitment to integrity that instills market trust,” according to prepared remarks shared with MM. “There is a lot more work to do.”

The Biden administration’s principles for carbon credits, which companies use to offset greenhouse gasses by financing other emission reduction or avoidance projects, call for “high-quality atmospheric integrity standards.” They also call on companies to prioritize reducing their own emissions — some environmental activists claim credits are a form of greenwashing — and continue work on improving the market’s transparency and costs. The administration believes the “government could play a role here too,” Yellen said.

Europe tepid on U.S.’s Russian asset plan POLITICO’s Gregorio Sorgi reports that European leaders are still wary of the U.S.’s plan to use the profits from frozen Russian assets to secure up to $50 billion in loans for Ukraine. Since European countries hold the bulk of the sovereign assets, they’re seeking guarantees that the U.S. will pay its share if interest payments change or if Ukraine can’t service its debt in the future.

Measuring the anti-ESG uproar — A new analysis of conservative media coverage found a big decline in mentions of “ESG” and “woke capital” language from high levels hit last year.

According to research from Bully Pulpit International using the media monitoring service Meltwater, mentions are down 78 percent from the peak in June 2023, when the House passed a bill to stop a gas stove ban. Engagement with conservative media on the topics, including retweets, shares and likes, is down 93 percent from an April 2023 high.

The review, which found an uptick in activity since October, covered outlets including Fox News, the New York Post, Daily Caller, Breitbart and the Washington Examiner. — Zach Warmbrodt 

Wall Street

Bill Gross sees trouble for bonds if Trump wins The former PIMCO chief told The Financial Times that a Trump victory would be “more bearish” and “disruptive” for bond markets because his policies would worsen U.S. deficits. “His programmes advocate continued tax cuts and more expensive things,” Gross said.

Crypto

Trump’s Crypto Push — Trump’s disastrous appearance at the Libertarian National Convention included a direct plea for support from crypto owners. “To the nation’s 50 million crypto holders I say this: With your vote, I will keep Elizabeth Warren and her goons away from your Bitcoin. And I will never allow the creation of a central bank digital currency,” he said. Trump also pledged to commute the sentence of Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht — whose online marketplace was a venue to purchase drugs and other illicit materials with Bitcoin.

First look — A national survey from Harris Poll and the crypto investment firm Grayscale Investments found that potential voters are evenly split on which political party’s position is most favorable in supporting crypto. The poll, which was taken before House Financial Services Chair Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) pushed digital asset legislation through the House with bipartisan support, also found more than half of likely voters (54 percent) haven’t changed their opinion of crypto since the start of the year, though roughly 20 percent are more open to investing in the asset class.

 

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Jobs Report

Sarah Mamula is joining the Financial Technology Association as the fintech group’s new head of government affairs. She was previously a vice president for government affairs at the Bank Policy Institute.

 

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