President Donald Trump is taking America’s biggest bank and its CEO to court.
Trump is suing JPMorgan 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 a Truth Social post over the weekend, 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. 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 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.”
Dimon, the bank’s longtime CEO, was named as a defendant.
Trump escalates the debanking fight
Trump has previously criticized some big banks for allegedly denying 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.
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.
This is a developing story.
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