New York | When Jamie Dimon surprised the political and financial elite early this year by praising some of Donald Trump’s policies, the longtime Democrat set off speculation that he had switched his allegiance to the Republican candidate.

He has done little since to tamp that down. The usually outspoken chief executive of JPMorgan, the nation’s largest bank, has been uncharacteristically vague about his political leanings of late. In an interview last week, he even left open the door to endorsing Trump – whose behaviour after the last election Mr Dimon once described as “treason”.