NEW YORK — Citigroup drew unusual public praise from President Donald Trump this week after he commended the bank and Chief Executive Jane Fraser for what he described as strong performance in mergers and acquisitions advisory work, prompting discussion across Wall Street about the basis for the president’s remarks.
Trump made the comments in a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday, congratulating Citigroup and Fraser and citing what he said was a top ranking in merger-and-acquisition advisory activity during the first quarter. “Congratulations to Jane F and ALL of her great people. They’ve worked really hard,” Trump wrote. Financial markets and banking industry observers noted that such direct praise from the president for a major Wall Street bank has been relatively uncommon during his administration.
According to reports by the Financial Times, Bloomberg News and other financial media outlets, Trump’s comments appeared to reference an advisory league-table ranking that was not immediately clear. Several widely followed industry rankings compiled by firms including LSEG and Dealogic showed other banks ahead of Citigroup in overall M&A advisory activity by value during the period cited by Trump.
The Financial Times reported that some Wall Street executives and advisers questioned the source of the ranking highlighted by the president. The newspaper said Citigroup officials were also uncertain about the specific data behind the claim. Bloomberg News similarly reported that it was unclear which league table Trump had used when describing the bank as the leading adviser.
Citigroup shares briefly rose following the social media post before giving back some of those gains later in the trading session, according to market reports. Analysts said investors were also weighing broader market developments and economic news during the period.
The comments came as Citigroup continues efforts under Fraser to strengthen its investment-banking business and improve its position in advisory and capital-markets activities. The bank has reported stronger results in some business lines in recent quarters while pursuing a broader restructuring program.
Neither Citigroup nor the White House immediately provided detailed public explanations regarding the ranking cited in Trump’s post, according to financial media reports. Citigroup declined to comment on the president’s remarks, Barron’s reported.
As of Friday, the president’s comments continued to draw attention within financial circles, while publicly available league tables still showed differing assessments of M&A advisory leadership depending on the methodology and market segment used. Details regarding the specific ranking referenced by Trump remained unclear.
