Trump sues JPMorgan Chase and CEO Jamie Dimon for $5B over alleged 'political' debanking
FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump is suing JPMorgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon in a $5 billion lawsuit filed Thursday, accusing the financial institution of debanking him for political reasons.
The president’s attorney, Alejandro Brito, filed the lawsuit Thursday morning in Florida state court in Miami on behalf of the president and several of his hospitality companies.
Brito quotes JPMorgan’s code of conduct, which states that the bank operates "with the highest level of integrity and ethical conduct."
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"We set high expectations and hold ourselves accountable. We do the right thing—not necessarily the easy or expedient thing. We abide by the letter and spirit of the laws and regulations everywhere we do business and have zero tolerance for unethical behavior," the lawsuit states, citing the bank’s code of conduct.
"Despite claiming to hold these principles dear, JPMC violated them by unilaterally—and without warning or remedy—terminating several of Plaintiff’s bank accounts," the lawsuit claims.
A JPMorgan Chase spokesperson told Fox News Digital Thursday, "While we regret President Trump has sued us, we believe the suit has no merit. We respect the President’s right to sue us and our right to defend ourselves - that’s what courts are for.
"JPMC does not close accounts for political or religious reasons," she continued, "We do close accounts because they create legal or regulatory risk for the company. We regret having to do so but often rules and regulatory expectations lead us to do so. We have been asking both this administration and prior 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 sector."
Trump had been a customer of JPMorgan for decades, and he and his affiliated entities "have transacted hundreds of millions of dollars" through JPMorgan Chase, according to the lawsuit.
Trump’s lawyer said Feb. 19, 2021, was the day that "forever altered the dynamic of the parties’ relationship," when the bank, allegedly "without warning or provocation," notified Trump and his entities that several bank accounts they controlled, were beneficiaries of, and actively used to transact "would be closed just two months later, on April 19, 2021."
"JPMC did not provide plaintiffs with any recourse, remedy, or alternative—its decision was final and unequivocal," the lawsuit claims.
Trump’s attorney said they are "confident that JPMC’s unilateral decision came about as a result of political and social motivations, and JPMC’s unsubstantiated, ‘woke’ beliefs that it needed to distance itself from President Trump and his conservative political views."
"In essence, JPMC debunked plaintiff’s accounts because it believed that the political tide at the moment favored doing so," the lawsuit states. "In addition to the considerable financial and reputational harm that Plaintiffs and their affiliated entities suffered, JPMC’s reckless decision is leading a growing trend by financial institutions in the United States of America to cut off a consumer’s access to banking services if their political views contradict with those of the financial institution."
Trump’s attorney alleged that, "JPMC’s conduct, in violation of its code of conduct and Dimon’s lofty assertions, is a key indicator of a systemic, subversive industry practice that aims to coerce the public to shift and re-align their political views."
The lawsuit goes on to allege that JPMorgan Chase and Dimon have "unlawfully and unjustifiably published some or all of their names, including the names of President Trump, the Trump Organization with its affiliated entities, and the Trump family, on a blacklist."
The blacklist, according to the lawsuit, allegedly is accessible by federally regulated banks and is comprised of individuals and entities that have a history of malfeasant acts and are otherwise noncompliant with applicable banking rules and regulations.
"Given that Plaintiffs have always complied with all applicable banking rules and regulations and their wealth management accounts were in good standing, JPMC’s publication of President Trump, the other Plaintiffs, the Trump Organization and its affiliated entities, and/or the Trump family’s names on this blacklist, is an intentional and malicious falsehood," the lawsuit states, alleging that JPMorgan Chase engaged in "an unfair and deceptive trade practice" by directing the publication of the names to the list, noting that the bank "had no legitimate basis to do so and knew that doing so would induce, and did in fact induce, other banking institutions not to deal with them."
Trump is accusing JPMorgan Chase and Dimon of trade libel, violating Florida’s unfair and deceptive trade practices act, declaratory relief, and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
Trump’s team is demanding a jury trial.
The president teased the lawsuit in a Truth Social post over the weekend.
"I’ll be suing JPMorgan Chase over the next two weeks for incorrectly and inappropriately DEBANKING me after the January 6th Protest, a protest that turned out to be correct for those doing the protesting," Trump said in a Truth Social post. "The Election was RIGGED!"
Trump has publicly said in interviews that JPMorgan Chase gave him a deadline, reportedly 20 days, to move hundreds of millions of dollars and effectively severed his accounts after Jan. 6, 2021. He also said Bank of America later refused to accept large deposits when he attempted to bank elsewhere.
In a previous statement to Fox, JPMorgan Chase spokesperson Trish Wexler said, "Serving more than 80 million Americans is our privilege, and we agree that no one’s account should ever be closed because of political or religious beliefs. We appreciate that this administration has moved to address political debanking, and we support those efforts."
Dimon in 2025 denied that the bank debanks conservatives or customers based on political views.
"We don't debank people because of political or religious affiliations," Dimon said on Capitol Hill Feb. 13, 2025. "But there are a lot of things that can be fixed. We should fix them. The rules and requirements are so onerous, and it does cause people to be debanked in my opinion, should not be debated."
When asked whether banking regulators were primarily to blame for debanking concerns, Dimon replied, "Pretty much, yeah."
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, who also has faced scrutiny from the White House over debanking allegations, offered a similar response in a separate interview that day.
"We have 70 million customers, and we're happy to serve anyone," Moynihan said.
When pressed on Trump’s allegations, Moynihan declined to elaborate in 2025, saying, "You'd have to talk to him about that, thanks."
In 2025, the Trump Organization sued Capital One after it allegedly "unjustifiably" terminated more than 300 of the company’s bank accounts and accounts belonging to numerous Trump family members in 2021.
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On March 8, 2021, Capital One allegedly notified Trump and the plaintiffs that hundreds of bank accounts that they controlled, were beneficiaries of and actively used would be closed June 7, 2021. According to the lawsuit, Capital One did not provide Trump and the plaintiffs with any "recourse, remedy, or alternative — its decision was final."
The accounts affiliated with the Trump Organization held millions of dollars belonging to them and their affiliated entities.
At the time, a Capital One spokesperson told Fox News Digital that: "Capital One has not and does not close customer accounts for political reasons."