Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump and his allies made a repeated target of international investment bank Goldman Sachs, particularly in light of his rivals. Trump suggested that Ted Cruz‘s financial relationship with the bank would lead to undue influence:
He also suggested Hillary Clinton would be “totally controlled by Wall Street and all the people that gave her millions,” a reference to her multiple six-figure speaking engagements with several Wall Street Banks, notably including Goldman Sachs. He did not limit his criticism of the bank through the lens of his rivals: a campaign ad referring to a “global power structure” that “robbed our working class” featured a photo of Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein.
Upon taking office, however, Trump’s attitude toward the bank has softened significantly, and Trump has now selected four nominees with Goldman Sachs ties for prominent posts in his administration. On January 4, Trump announced that Jay Clayton, a Manhattan lawyer who represented the bank, would head the Securities and Exchange Commission, marking the fourth Goldman alumnus selected for such a role, joining Steve Bannon, Steven Mnuchin and Gary Cohn.