Jamie Dimon: US must get its 'act together' before dealing with China

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Friday told a California audience that the United States should get its own act together before worrying about China as an adversary.

The CEO's appearance at the Reagan National Economic Forum comes as the Trump administration faces intense scrutiny over the president's recent actions on global tariffs, including from world leaders.

Dimon said that the United States has the power to be “enormously resilient," but must pull itself together in order to remain in power and someday beat China.

“I’m not as worried about China. China is a potential adversary," he said. "They’re doing a lot of things well, they have a lot of problems. What I really worry about is us. Can we get our own act together, our own values, our own capability, our own management? I think this time is different. This time ... we have to get our act together. We have to do it very quickly."

Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk said that he agreed with the sentiment in a post on X. Musk is now leaving public service to return to his companies after working to help eliminate wasteful spending in the federal government.

Dimon also argued that the country needs to focus on more than just economic growth, and should also emphasize strengthening things like the military.

“Are we gonna be the reserve currency? No. You know, if we are not the preeminent military and the preeminent economy in 40 years, we will not be the reserve currency,” Dimon said. “That’s a fact. Just read history.”