Trump sues JPMorgan and CEO Jamie Dimon for $5 billion over alleged debanking
Denis Balibouse/Reuters
- Trump sued JPMorgan and Jamie Dimon for at least $5 billion.
- The president alleges that JPMorgan debanked him after the January 6 protests for political reasons.
- The bank has previously said it doesn't close accounts for political reasons.
President Donald Trump is taking America's biggest bank and its CEO to court.
Trump is suing JPMorgan Chase and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, for at least $5 billion over claims of politically motivated debanking on Thursday, making good on his threats from a Truth Social post over the weekend. In a complaint filed in Miami-Dade County state court, Trump accused JPMorgan of trade libel and violating Florida's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
In his weekend Truth Social post, Trump said that he planned to sue JPMorgan for "incorrectly and inappropriately DEBANKING me after the January 6th Protest."
Representatives for JPMorgan did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a legal spokesperson for Trump declined to comment. In August, the bank said in a statement to Reuters that it does not close accounts for political reasons.
Inside the debanking claims
The lawsuit claims that JPMorgan caused Trump and his family financial and reputation harm when it unlawfully "debanked" them shortly after Trump left the White House in January 2021.
The suit says Trump and various of his businesses were notified on February 19, 2021, that their accounts would be closed and their relationships with JPMorgan "terminated by April 19, 2021."
They said no reason was given and that Trump called Dimon, who is named as a defendant, personally to complain.
"After receiving the Termination letter, President Trump raised with Dimon JPMC's debanking of Plaintiffs' Accounts," the lawsuit said. "Dimon assured President Trump that he would get back to him to address JPMC's debanking of Plaintiffs' Accounts but, ultimately, never did."
Besides Trump, the suing parties are largely entities affiliated with Trump, including a golf club in Colts Neck, New Jersey, and his golf club in Briarcliff Manor, New York.
The suing parties said JPMorgan never provided a reason for parting ways, forcing them to scramble to find new banking relations and hindering their business transactions. JPMorgan's decision, the lawsuit alleges, "caused the businesses operated by Plaintiffs and their affiliated entities to suffer considerable financial and reputational harm as a result of being debanked."
The suit also claims that the bank put Trump, the Trump Organization and affiliated entities, and the Trump family on a "blacklist" available to other banks. The lawsuit mentioned the word "blacklist" 24 times. It claimed that Dimon "authorized" the addition of Trump and his affiliates' names to the blacklist.
The addition "induced other federally regulated banks in the United States, all of which can access this blacklist, to not carry on business relationships" with Trump and the other suing parties.
The filing opens with a quote from Dimon himself, drawn from his 2021 annual letter to shareholders, which highlights the importance of safe disagreement. It also references the bank's code of conduct, which mentions accountability and acting ethically, and in line with the law.
The bank, the lawsuit alleges, violated the principles "unilaterally."
Trump escalates the debanking fight
Trump has previously claimed that some big banks deny services to conservatives, telling CNBC in August that JPMorgan and Bank of America had previously refused to accept his deposits. In August, the president signed an executive order directing federal banking regulators to eliminate guidance that encourages what he deems "politicized" or "unlawful" debanking.
The order instructs some federal regulators and agencies to "make reasonable efforts" to reinstate debanked customers, and the Treasury Department to develop new regulations to prevent "unlawful" debanking.
The Trump Organization has sued Capital One over similar debanking claims.
Before Trump began his second term, well-known venture capitalist Marc Andreessen said that banks had cut off banking services for dozens of tech founders under former President Joe Biden.
Trump's suit comes after a flurry of recent proposals that could impact Wall Street, including a proposed 10% cap on credit card interest rates for 1 year and an effort to limit large investors' ability to buy single-family homes.
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