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,” he told the crowd. “We’re done, ladies and gentlemen, catering to Wall Street.”
Instead, the 39-year-old is close with key players in the tech and cryptocurrency sectors, and has pursued policies aligned with those industries. Musk for his part called the Vance pick an “excellent decision.” As The Wall Street Journal has reported, Musk has said he plans to commit around $45 million a month to a super political-action committee backing Trump’s run.
Trump also has the support of the venture capitalists Joe Lonsdale, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, as well as the Winklevoss twins and other high-profile players in the tech and crypto industries. Vance has invested in bitcoin and in deals with tech executives, including Peter Thiel. He has been developing a bill that is well-regarded in the industry to revamp how crypto is regulated.
A representative of Vance didn’t return requests for comment. A Trump spokesman said that his agenda appeals to people of all backgrounds and that Vance will work to have Trump returned to the White House and to implement that agenda.
Politicians and Wall Street types have long had a symbiotic relationship, with candidates benefiting from executives’ deep pockets and executives eyeing top government posts or the ability to influence policy. A former Goldman Sachs executive, Steven Mnuchin, served as Trump’s Treasury secretary.
Part of the shift away from Wall Street that some donors perceive could stem from Wall Street’s never having fully embraced Trump. Prominent figures such as the hedge-fund managers John Paulson and Scott Bessent were among Trump’s earliest backers, and the Blackstone chief, Stephen Schwarzman, and the hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman recently pledged their support. But others, including the billionaires Ken Griffin and Paul Singer, two influential Republican donors, have yet to back Trump publicly.
Still, Vance has been close to Bessent for several years, and the Journal has reported that Paulson and Bessent could play roles in a new Trump administration.
And Trump and Vance are still courting Wall Street donors. Last week Vance held a roundtable with a mix of donors from finance, crypto and other industries in Milwaukee, according to a person familiar with the matter, an indication that he and the Trump campaign are still cultivating a swath of supporters.
Write to Gregory Zuckerman at Gregory.Zuckerman@wsj.com