Thread: Goldman Sachs CEO tweets for the first time, slams Trump's Paris decision

Goldman Sachs CEO tweets for the first time, slams Trump's Paris decision

by Jackie Wattles
jackiewattles June 1, 2017: 6:45 PM ET

Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein sent his first-ever tweet on Thursday -- and he used it to criticize President Trump's decision to back out of the Paris climate pact.

"Today's decision is a setback for the environment and for the U.S.'s leadership position in the world. #ParisAgreement," he said.

The company confirmed to CNNMoney that it was Blankfein's first Twitter post.

This isn't the first time the powerful Wall Street exec has taken Trump on. Blankfein openly opposed the president's controversial travel ban, and he voiced support for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election.

Yet, the current administration has plenty of ties to Blankfein's bank. Gary Cohn left Goldman Sachs (GS) to become a White House economic adviser, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin worked for Goldman for 17 years.

Blankfein said in his annual letter to shareholders that Goldman "encourages our people to contribute to government service if they are fortunate enough to be asked."

Senator Elizabeth Warren went so far as to question whether the bank has drafted executive orders signed by POTUS, including one that rolled back some Wall Street oversight rules. Goldman has denied any involvement.

The decision to drop out of the climate accord has drawn ire form many bigwigs in the private sector. Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is dropping out of two presidential advisory councils to protest the move.

Salesforce (CRM, Tech30) chief Marc Benioff and General Electric (GE) CEO Jeff Immelt both said they were "disappointed" in Trump's decision.

Companies including Google (GOOG), Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Nike (NKE), Gap (GPS), Adidas (ADDDF) -- and even oil companies like ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron (CVX) -- all urged Trump not to withdraw from the treaty.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/06/01/news...eet/index.html

LOL!! Lets see, he can't be stupid, you can't be stupid and CEO of Goldman-Sachs, so ..... this means he's a crook. No wonder he likes Crooked Hillary and voted for her!!

Hang on to your wallets, folks.

Yet, the current administration has plenty of ties to Blankfein's bank. Gary Cohn left Goldman Sachs (GS) to become a White House economic adviser, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin worked for Goldman for 17 years.

Yep, two more gators for the swamp.

Mnuchin is not a gator. Cohn, maybe, but he lost this one and he'll lose some more, he'll learn or go do something else. You seem to think that Trump is some little air-head that sits around waiting for people to tell him what to do, nope, there's a new Sheriff in town, he tells them what to do. Sure, he listens, he gets their different and varying viewpoints, but he calls his own shots and make his own decisions for his own reasons.

Donald Trump is probably one of the smartest wisest Presidents we've had in a very very long time, and that fact is killing the people who don't like him for ... whatever reason.

Trump Drains Yet Another Big Wall Street Gator Into His White House Swamp

December 12, 2016
Patrick Bourke US

SDonald Trump was many things to many people during the course of the recent election campaign. However, the one thing that most people can agree on is that his success rested, for the most part, on being different than the rest, an outsider if you will. The president-elect has doubled down on this anti-establishment rhetoric since his election victory claiming time and again that he would eradicate corruption in politics by draining out all the political insiders. The thing is, since his election he has done the exact opposite and this is articulated again with his most recent appointment. When it comes to Trump’s swamp, it appears that a wall street gator has more of a chance of being drained in than flushed out.

Which Wall Street Gator Will Trump Drain Into The White House Today?

The Wall Street gator in question on this occassion is Gary Cohn. The second in command at Goldman Sachs and the latest member of the Wall Street banking firm to be appointed to Trump’s White House team. Cohn, who is a twenty-five year veteran of the bank, has been tasked with heading up Trump’s National Economic Council (NEC) and will join Steve Mnuchinwho was recently appointed to the cabinet positon of Tresuary Secretary. Mnuchin is a former partner of Goldman Sachs who spent almost two decades at the bank ammassing a massive 46 million dollars in the process. Both Cohn and Mnuchin will join perhaps the greatest Goldman Sachs influence in Trump’s team; Steve Bannon. Bannon, a former merger and acquisitions banker with Goldman Sachs was named as Trump’s chief strategist following his vital role in Trump’s election success.

Like Mnuchin, Cohn is being heralded by Trump as someone whose business and banking acumen will play a pivotal role in his new administration. A declaration that if taken in isolation could be viewed as somewhat genuine. However, it would be negligent in the extreme to try and view Trump’s relationship with Wall Street and, in particular, Goldman Sachs with anything approaching isolation. He used Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton’s association with the bank as a political weapon throughout both the republican primaries and the presidential election and even directly cited the bank in his eve of poll video. A vdeo that squarely attacked the relationship between Wall Street and Washington D.C.

http://reverbpress.com/news/us/trump...e-house-swamp/

So what's the problem? Stock market not high enough for you? Highest in history. GDP growth not high enough for you? It's growing at more than twice the rate it was prior to the election. This month it's churning at 3.8% almost 4 times what it was under Obama last year. These guys have jobs to do to improve the numbers. If Cohn gets into an ideological or political battle with Trump over policy, direction or action, Cohn will lose. Mnuchin is actually on board with all of Trump's policies.

As to Wall Street being the SWAMP .... Wall Street is not the SWAMP. Wall Street is with Trump, that's why the stock market is doing so well, breaking records across the board, the Dow, S&P and NASDAQ all. You want to know how Americans really feel? You check where they spend and invest their money. Wall Street traders cheered enormously the day after the election when the Dow announced Trump as the new President. Wall Street are Trumpers, not the SWAMP.

Originally Posted by Judy

So what's the problem? Stock market not high enough for you? Highest in history. GDP growth not high enough for you? It's growing at more than twice the rate it was prior to the election. This month it's churning at 3.8% almost 4 times what it was under Obama last year. These guys have jobs to do to improve the numbers. If Cohn gets into an ideological or political battle with Trump over policy, direction or action, Cohn will lose. Mnuchin is actually on board with all of Trump's policies.

As to Wall Street being the SWAMP .... Wall Street is not the SWAMP. Wall Street is with Trump, that's why the stock market is doing so well, breaking records across the board, the Dow, S&P and NASDAQ all. You want to know how Americans really feel? You check where they spend and invest their money. Wall Street traders cheered enormously the day after the election when the Dow announced Trump as the new President. Wall Street are Trumpers, not the SWAMP.

Hyperbole does not change the Trump campaign definition of the swamp. Make no mistake about it, Wall Street is part of the swamp. Wall Street is a huge part of the corruption problem in Washington.

The currency of Washington's power politics is campaign money. Much of that campaign money flows from Wall Street's biggest banks; its lobbyist, its Political Action Committees, its employees and their spouses. After flooding the presidential campaign with money, Wall Street was rewarded by being allowed to make cabinet hiring decisions as part of Trump's transition team, ensuring continuity government and an incurable malignancy on American democracy. To begin the process of draining the corrupt swamp in Washington, it means cutting of the money flow from Wall Street, not looking for a new savior who is deeply indebted the Wall Street banks!

Originally Posted by MW

Hyperbole does not change the Trump campaign definition of the swamp. Make no mistake about it, Wall Street is part of the swamp. Wall Street is a huge part of the corruption problem in Washington.

The currency of Washington's power politics is campaign money. Much of that campaign money flows from Wall Street's biggest banks; its lobbyist, its Political Action Committees, its employees and their spouses. After flooding the presidential campaign with money, Wall Street was rewarded by being allowed to make cabinet hiring decisions as part of Trump's transition team, ensuring continuity government and an incurable malignancy on American democracy. To begin the process of draining the corrupt swamp in Washington, it means cutting of the money flow from Wall Street, not looking for a new savior who is deeply indebted the Wall Street banks!

Why are you posting lies about our President Trump?

Goldman Sachs Bans Employees from Donating to Trump
Lucinda Shen
Sep 06, 2016

Goldman Sachs has enacted a set of rules that bans the firm's top employees from contributing to certain campaigns, including the Trump-Pence ticket.

The rules kicked in Sept. 1 and will apply only to partners of the firm. The memo detailing the rule change was first reported by Politico. The firm says the rules were meant to remove any implication of so-called "pay to play." Four years ago, the bank paid $12 million to settle charges that a former Boston-based banker had picked up bond underwriting business in the state while working for and contributing funds to the campaign of a then Massachusetts state treasurer and governor-hopeful, Tim Cahill.

But the people in the Trump campaign are sure to question the timing. That's because the rules ban donations to politicians running for state or local offices, as well as donations to state officials who are seeking federal office. That makes campaign contributions to the Trump-Pence ticket a no-no. Pence is the current governor of Indiana.

In the memo, a copy of which was obtained by Fortune, Goldman specifically mentions the Trump-Pence campaign as an example of one Goldman partners can no longer support. Among the type of donations that are banned, according to the memo, are, "A ny federal candidate who is a sitting state or local official (e.g., governor running for president or vice president, such as the Trump/Pence ticket, or mayor running for Congress), including their Political Action Committees (PACs)."

At the same time, the rules do not restrict donations to Clinton-Kaine. Kaine is a U.S. Senator for Virginia, and not considered a local official under Goldman's rules. Although the memo does say that Goldman partners are no longer able to donate to the Virginia Democratic party, which could be a reference to Kaine. Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman's CEO, has declined to say who he is supporting for president, but is known as a long-time Clinton supporter. Blankfein donated to Clinton when she ran against Obama is 2008.

Goldman declined to comment on this story.

“The policy change is also meant to minimize potential reputational damage caused by any false perception that the firm is attempting to circumvent pay-to-play rules, particularly given partners' seniority and visibility," the firm wrote in the memo. "All failures to pre-clear political activities as outlined below are taken seriously and violations may result in disciplinary action.”

Fortune in July reported that SEC rules would make it nearly impossible for the Trump-Pence campaign to raise money from private equity managers, citing pay-to-play rules.

The ban doesn't eliminate a large number of potential Trump donors. The bank has 467 partners globally, out of 30,000 plus employees. But since Goldman partners tend to be some of the wealthiest people in finance, the fact that they aren't allowed to send money to the Trump campaign could make a difference, particularly among the race for Wall Street dollars, where Trump has been trailing Clinton but catching up lately.

What's more, both of the campaign finance directors—Steven Mnuchin for Trump and Gary Gensler for Clinton—are former Goldman bankers. You would expect both to turn to former colleagues for donations.

All of the bank's employees are already required seek approval from the firm regarding any campaign contributions.

Pay-to-play rules were first introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2010, after several investment advisors were accused of trying to win business, such as managing public pensions, with improper tactics including political contributions. If a financial advisor were to make a campaign contribution to a public official or candidate, they would be banned from providing advisory services for compensation to the government client for two years under the rules.

Here is the full text of the memo:

Global Compliance

You are receiving this e-mail because effective Thursday, September 1, all partners across the firm are considered “Restricted Persons” as defined by the firm’s Policy on Personal Political Activities in the US. As outlined below, Restricted Persons are prohibited from engaging in political activities and/or making campaign contributions to candidates running for state and local offices, as well as sitting state and local officials running for federal office.

The policy change is meant to prevent inadvertently violating pay-to-play rules, particularly the look-back provision, when partners transition into roles covered by these rules. The penalties for failing to comply with these rules can be severe and include fines and a ban on the firm from doing business with government clients in a particular jurisdiction for a period of at least two years.

The policy change is also meant to minimize potential reputational damage caused by any false perception that the firm is attempting to circumvent pay-to-play rules, particularly given partners' seniority and visibility. All failures to pre-clear political activities as outlined below are taken seriously and violations may result in disciplinary action.

Highlights of the policy as it applies to you as a Restricted Person are as follows:

August 29, 2016

From: Global Compliance
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2016 11:57 AM
To: 'All Partners'
Subject: New Policy on US Political Activities by “Restricted Persons”

New Policy on US Political Activities by “Restricted Persons”

All Political Activities Require Pre-Clearance

Like all firm personnel, you must pre-clear all political activities through the US Political Contributions Pre-Clearance System. A pre-clearance requirement applies to all contributions and solicitations, as well as to attending or hosting events; lending your name to lists, letters or invitations; serving on committees; and volunteering with campaigns and elections. Each contribution or political activity must be separately approved, even if you have received prior approvals for the same political campaign.

Prohibition on State, Local and Certain Federal Political Activities

As a Restricted Person, you may not make any contributions or solicit in connection with:

Any federal candidate who is a sitting state or local official (e.g., governor running for president or vice president, such as the Trump/Pence ticket, or mayor running for Congress), including their Political Action Committees (PACs).
Any state or local candidate or official in any state or locality (e.g., candidate for governor, mayor, state treasurer, state comptroller, state legislator, local city council).
State and local party committees (e.g., the Democratic Party of Virginia, the Suffolk County Republican Party).
PACs and Super PACs supporting or opposing one or more state or local candidates.
Inaugural/Transition Committees or expenses for newly elected state and local officials.
Bond ballot initiative committees (e.g., a committee seeking authorization to issue municipal securities to fund a public infrastructure project).

Contact Government Interactions Compliance or Government Affairs Legal if you have any questions about these restrictions.

http://fortune.com/2016/09/06/goldma...e-trump-pence/

_______________________

Traders on Wall Street supported Trump, not Goldman, not the owners, not the partners, but the individual brokers who handle the transactions with the public.