Trump sues JPMorgan and chief executive Jamie Dimon over alleged ‘debanking’
David Voreacos And Hannah Leavitt
Updated ,first published
President Donald Trump, JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its billionaire chief executive Jamie Dimon for at least US$5 billion ($7.3 billion) over allegations that the lender stopped providing banking services to him and his businesses for political reasons.
The complaint, filed on Thursday (US time), accuses the bank of trade libel and breach of implied covenant of good faith. It also alleges Dimon violated Florida’s deceptive trade practices law. In response, the bank said it did not close accounts for political or religious reasons.
Trump has repeatedly singled out JPMorgan in his effort to stamp out what he sees as banks refusing to provide financial services to customers for ideological reasons. JPMorgan closed the accounts of Trump and his businesses nearly seven weeks after his supporters attacked the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. Trump was not in office at the time and his political standing was low.
According to the complaint filed in Miami-Dade County state court, JPMorgan, the largest US bank, notified Trump “without warning or provocation” that it would close the company’s accounts, resulting in serious financial and reputational losses. Bloomberg reviewed the complaint, which was not immediately available in court records.
According to the complaint, the bank was motivated by its “woke” beliefs that it “needed to distance itself from President Trump and his conservative political views.”
“In fact, JPMC canceled the bank debit of the plaintiffs’ accounts because it believed that the political trend at the time supported it.”
JPMorgan said in a statement that there was no merit to the case.
“We are closing the accounts because they pose legal or regulatory risk to the company,” the New York-based bank said.
“We regret having to do this, but often rules and regulatory expectations direct us to do so. We have been asking both this administration and previous administrations to change the rules and regulations that put us in this position, and we support the administration’s efforts to prevent the weaponization of the banking industry.”
“While we regret that President Trump is suing us, we believe there is no merit to the lawsuit. We respect the president’s right to sue us and our right to defend ourselves.”
The bank announced in November that it was facing scrutiny, investigations and legal action related to the Trump administration’s fight against “bank liquidation.” Separately, the Trump Organization had already sued Capital One Financial Corp. over similar allegations.
“Bank banking is a matter of public interest and great importance to all consumers and businesses in the United States – and JPMC is a central actor in this ongoing and troubled saga, especially given its storied and prominent history,” the bank said. Beyond closing the accounts, JPMorgan “blacklisted” Trump, the Trump Organization and his family members for their wealth management accounts, according to the complaint.
Trump’s lawyers said in the complaint that Florida prohibits financial institutions from terminating banking relationships with a person or business “because of their political views, speech, or affiliations.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
Almost as soon as Trump returned to office for a second term, he began publicly criticizing the nation’s two largest banks over bank divestments. A year ago, while addressing a virtual audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, he chided Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, one of a handful of executives on stage at the session, for the issue and also named JPMorgan.
The president has raised the issue many times since then. In August, he accused JPMorgan and Bank of America of rejecting his business, telling CNBC that JPMorgan had asked him to close his accounts and that he had rejected Bank of America’s attempt to deposit over US$1 billion there. Days later, he signed an executive order instructing federal regulators to, among other things, identify financial institutions that have engaged in illegal “bank closures” in the past.
