Wall Street takes a back seat with Trump’s elevation of Vance

Former President Donald Trump’s choice of JD Vance as his running mate is a bet on an inexperienced politician from a battleground state. It is also a sign of Wall Street’s waning power.

The choice of Vance could mean tech executives will exert more influence on a Trump administration than financial titans. Some in the finance set see the first-term senator from Ohio’s selection as a sign Trump doesn’t care as much about appeasing them. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley’s deep-pocketed Trump supporters including Elon Musk are cheering the choice.

“Wall Street is key to the party, and will always have a critical role," says Ed McMullen, a top fundraiser for the Trump campaign and former ambassador to Switzerland. “But tech and new entrepreneurs are rapidly inserting themselves through giving and advising, and the choice of Vance reflects that Trump recognizes this shift."

Vance has been outspoken in favor of tariffs, government intervention in the economy and a weaker dollar, positions that put him at odds with many on Wall Street. He has also been less supportive of free trade than others.

Among Wall Street’s concerns is the fact that he has advocated for greater scrutiny of mergers, which generate huge fees for investment banks. As a fan of President Biden’s tough-on-deals Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, Vance is part of a contrarian group of Republicans known as “Khanservatives."

Vance did little to put Trump’s finance-industry backers at ease when speaking at the Republican National Convention. While portraying himself as a fighter for the working class, Vance argued that “Wall Street barons" had contributed to rising home prices by crashing the economy.

“President Trump’s vision is so simple and yet so powerful,"