Trump announced the lawsuit in a post on Truth Social by sharing a link to a Fox Business article about the suit.
According to that article, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of Trump and several of his hospitality companies and alleges that JPMorgan Chase terminated several of their bank accounts in 2021 because of “political and social motivations,” causing the plaintiffs “considerable financial and reputational harm.”
The lawsuit also alleges that the bank and Dimon “unlawfully and unjustifiably” published the names of Trump, The Trump Organization, the Trump family and others on a “blacklist” that can be accessed by other federally regulated banks, per the report.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants 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,” the report said.
Trump said in a Saturday (Jan. 17) post on Truth Social that he would be “suing JPMorgan Chase over the next two weeks for incorrectly and inappropriately DEBANKING me after the January 6th Protest.”
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JPMorgan Chase said in a Thursday statement that it believes the suit has no merit and that the bank will defend itself in court.
“Our company does not close accounts for political or religious reasons,” the statement said. “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 this Administration’s efforts to prevent the weaponization of the banking sector.”
It was reported last February that Dimon said JPMorgan Chase does not debank people for political or religious affiliations. Dimon added that anti-money laundering and financial crime rules cause people to “be pushed out of the system” because banks were afraid of being sued or fined.
In December 2024, it was reported that Trump’s return to the Oval Office could bring a crackdown on debanking. At the time, people such as venture capitalist Marc Andreessen argued that banks were cutting ties with customers on the political right or with industries such as the cryptocurrency sector.
