Trump Suit Against Capital One Dismissed But Can Be Refiled

The Trump Organization’s lawsuit accusing Capital One Financial Corp. of political discrimination and illegally closing its accounts in 2021 was dismissed by the judge, but the judge said the claims could be refiled if Trump’s company corrects its “incomplete” complaint.

At a hearing Friday, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman in Miami granted Capital One’s request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by President Donald Trump’s sprawling real estate company that accuses the bank of shutting down hundreds of business accounts in a process known as bank liquidation because of its hostility toward conservatives.

Altman, a Trump appointee, said the complaint was “insufficient” for many reasons but still gave the Trump Organization the chance to file a new complaint. He said the company had done “enough” to claim that the accounts were potentially shut down due to political hostility, although the complaint lacked specifics.

“I’m going to ask you to strengthen these general allegations,” Altman told Trump attorney Alejandro Brito, who has filed a series of lawsuits on Trump’s behalf.

Capital One declined to comment on the decision. Brito and a representative from the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The decision is a mixed victory for both sides. Capital One won dismissal of the complaint, which Altman criticized from the bench after highlighting a series of legal deficiencies. But the judge cleared the way for the Trump Organization to request evidence from Capital One that could help the business file a stronger complaint. The judge gave the Trump Organization 90 days to seek evidence from the bank (a costly and intrusive process known as discovery) plus two more weeks to file a new complaint.

Capital One attorney Helen Cantwell expressed concern that the Trump Organization was able to conduct discovery even though the judge ruled that Trump’s company had no valid claims. Still, Cantwell said he did not object to the judge’s plan.

The firing represents at least a temporary setback for Trump’s campaign against bank closures, which he says unfairly deprive conservative individuals and organizations of financial services. Trump is personally suing JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $5 billion, alleging it engaged in the practice of shutting down his accounts in the weeks after the attack on the Capitol by a mob of his supporters on Jan. 6, 2021. JPMorgan denies wrongdoing.

Eric Trump, the president’s son and vice chairman of the Trump Organization, was a plaintiff in the Capital One case and an outspoken critic of banking. He said Capital One’s account closure in March 2025 was a “blatant attack on free speech” and cost the company millions as it had to find a new bank.

The Trump Organization claims the bank ended its decades-long relationship with Trump’s company “solely because Capital One believed political views at the time supported it.” Capital One moved to dismiss the lawsuit in July, arguing that the allegations were “trite.”

Capital One won an earlier ruling in July 2025 that ordered the case to be put on hold pending a dismissal. This decision freed the bank from having to immediately engage in exchanging evidence, a time-consuming and expensive process known as discovery, because the case was considered likely to be dismissed at the time.

When the lawsuit was filed in March 2025, Eric Trump promised to sue other banks for similar allegations. The President even made claims that banks were being liquidated in his statements to Wall Street executives at the last Davos summit.

The complaints against Capital One and JPMorgan allege that the practice began during the administrations of former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, with efforts by the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to prevent financial fraud and abuse.

The “ulterior motive” of these changes, according to the complaints, was to pressure banks to cut off financial services to gun and ammunition dealers, payroll lenders and other businesses aligned with conservatives.

The case is Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust v. Capital One, 25-cv-21596, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida.

With help from Paige Smith.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to the text.