For all of the tumult and stress surrounding the Trump presidency, at least one swath of the American workforce has pulled their punches when talking about the president: Wall Street. It makes sense, of course. Right now, the stock market's booming, the president routinely boasts his actual business bona fides, and bankers are still clinging to hope that the president will fulfill his promise to roll back Dodd-Frank regulations.
But let's be clear: not every finance-world hotshot has the president's back. On Friday, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein threw a little shade Trump's way, tweeting: "Just landed from China, trying to catch up… How did ‘infrastructure week' go?" (Quick backstory: "Infrastructure week" was the administration's attempt to drum up support for the president's infrastructure plan but, it was largely overshadowed by former FBI director James Comey's testimony.)
From a certain former mayor of New York City—you probably know who we're talking about—to disciples of Robert Mercer, a major Trump donor, several high-profile Wall Street guys have taken a stand against the administration. So read on to see what they have to say. And for more Trump coverage, check out the 7 times his tweets baffled the world.
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1 | Michael Bloomberg, former Mayor of New York; CEO of Bloomberg LP
The three-term mayor of New York has not hidden his disdain for our president. But Bloomberg's most damning condemnation of the guy might have been during his DNC speech, where the finance and media titan said, "Trump says he wants to run the nation like he's running his business? God help us… [t]he richest thing about Donald Trump is his hypocrisy."
2 | Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway
The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway publicly supported Hillary Clinton during the 2016 campaign, going so far to speak at rallies and point fingers at Trump for not releasing his tax returns. "You're only afraid if you've got something to be afraid about," Buffett taunted at one. "He's not afraid because of the IRS. He's afraid because of you." For more wisdom from Warren Buffett, check out how he (and 49 other successful men) defines success.
3 | George Soros, manager of Soros Fund Management
ShutterstockA target of roughly 124,532 tinfoil hat theories—"He's paying protestors!" "He did the thing with the pizza shop!"—George Soros is no stranger to the political arena. But while theories like that are mere conjecture, his statements are rock-solid certain. "I have described him as an impostor and a con man and a would-be dictator," Soros said at Davos earlier this year. Soros then went on to clarify "would-be," saying that the president "would be" a dictator if he wanted to, but that the constitution was too powerful to let that outcome come to pass.
4 | Barry Diller, chairman of IAC
Diller, the chairman of IAC, started feuding with Trump before almost anyone else. Back in May 2016, before Trump even locked down the nomination, Diller publicly called Trump "evil." Months later, at the Bloomberg Markets Most Influential Summit, Diller called the president a "self-promoting huckster" with a "vein of meanness and nastiness," and then threatened to move out of the country if he was elected. (Diller, to the best of our knowledge, currently resides in New York City.)
5 | Stanley Druckenmiller, former chairman of Duquesne Capital
The former chairman of Duquesne Capital put up a frenzy of anti-Trump donations in the 2016 cycle, throwing money to Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, and John Kasich. Druckenmiller also went on to state that Trump has a "kindergartner" view of the economy who "doesn't know what he's talking about." (Druckenmiller, as it so happens, used to the be the top money manager for Soros.) If you want to learn how to manage money like a pro, check out the best way to invest $10,000 right now.
Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for the New York Times
6 | Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan
To be sure, Jamie Dimon, "America's Least Hated Banker," has been publicly mum on his feelings toward our president. But sometimes, the subtlest digs are the deepest. In his annual letter to JP Morgan shareholders, Dimon slammed, without calling Trump out by name, the direction our country is going on immigration, foreign affairs (particularly with Mexico and China), defense, and, notably, the environment.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
7 | Michael Corbat, CEO of Citigroup
Michael Corbat, the CEO of Citigroup, slammed Trump in everything but name in the first 10 days of the presidency. After Trump announced the controversial travel "not-a-ban" ban, Corbat sent out a memo to all employees strongly condemned the ban. "We encourage leaders to leaders of the United States to find the right balance between protecting the country and its longstanding role as an open and welcoming society," he wrote, pointedly not using Trump's name. Let's hope these two never meet—otherwise, Corbat might be pulled into the world's worst handshake.
Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images
8 | Ray Dalio, CEO of Bridgewater Associates
You know things aren't going great when you tick off the chairman of the world's largest investment fund. Writing in a LinkedIn post, Dalio said, "When faced with the choices between what's good for the whole and what's good for the part, and between harmony and conflict, he has a strong tendency to choose the part and conflict." That's CEO-speak for, "This guy's insane."
9 | David Magerman, money manager at Renaissance Technologies
Well, here's a bit of drama. David Magerman, a top money manager at Renaissance Technologies—the fund of Robert Mercer, a top Trump donor—grew incredibly outspoken at his boss's political views. Magerman went as far to offer to collaborate with Elizabeth Warren on drafting legislation meant to curb speculative investing. Mercer subsequently fired Magerman. And now, Magerman has sued Mercer, alleging that Mercer is a white supremacist.
10 | Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs
One could be forgiven for believing the Lloyd Blankfein joined Twitter to swipe at Trump. His first tweet ever? "Today's decision is a setback for the environment and for the U.S.'s leadership position in the world." (This was fired away into the Internet the day after Trump controversially pulled out of the Paris environment agreement.) One could be forgiven, indeed.
Photo by Stuart Isett/Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit/CC BY-ND 2.0
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