For decades, Donald Trump banked with JPMorgan Chase.
Then, in the political chaos following January 6, the relationship suddenly ended.
Not because of missed payments.
Not because of fraud.
Not because of insolvency.
Because, according to Trump’s lawsuit, the political winds had shifted.
In a recent court filing, JPMorgan Chase admitted it closed President Trump’s accounts shortly after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot — the first public acknowledgment from the banking giant that it did so.
“In February 2021, JPMorgan informed Plaintiffs that certain accounts maintained with JPMorgan’s CB and PB would be closed,” the bank’s former chief administrative officer Dan Wilkening wrote. “CB” and “PB” refer to the company’s commercial bank and private bank divisions.
Court documents state Trump had maintained accounts at JPMorgan dating back to at least 1986. That relationship lasted until February 19, 2021, when the bank sent a letter stating it “has decided to close its banking relationship with The Trump Corporation and its affiliated entities.”
The letter, addressed to Trump Organization corporate controller Jeffrey McConney, gave the company a two-month grace period: “Please transfer your Accounts to another institution, or let us know where we should transfer the holdings in your Accounts, as soon as possible.”
“We will continue to maintain your Accounts and related services until April 19, 2021,” McConney added.
Trump has now sued JPMorgan and CEO Jamie Dimon for $5 billion, alleging the bank unlawfully “debanked” him for political reasons.
The complaint states: “Plaintiffs 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 debanked Plaintiffs’ Accounts because it believed that the political tide at the moment favored doing so.”
JPMorgan has dismissed the lawsuit, calling it meritless.
“JPMC does not close accounts for political or religious reasons,” a company spokeswoman 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 the Administration’s efforts to prevent the weaponization of the banking sector.”
The bank’s lawyers have also called Trump’s claims of politically motivated discrimination “threadbare,” arguing they lack “sufficient facts,” and claim Dimon was “fraudulently” included in the lawsuit.
Trump fired back on Truth Social:
“A front page Article in The Fake News Wall Street Journal states, without any verification, that I offered Jamie Dimon, of JPMorgan Chase, the job of Fed Chairman. This statement is totally untrue, there was never such an offer and, in fact, 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 — The Election was RIGGED!”
He added: “Also, one was led to believe that I offered Jamie Dimon the job of Secretary of the Treasury, but that would be one that he would be very interested in. The problem is, I have Scott Bessent doing a fantastic job, A SUPERSTAR — Why would I give it to Jamie? No such offer was made there, or even thought of, either.”
Here’s Senator John Kennedy confronting the Federal Reserve and major financial institutions over this practice and their lackluster response:
The question now isn’t whether JPMorgan closed Trump’s accounts.
They’ve admitted it.
The question is whether banks in America should ever have the power to cut off financial services based on politics — and who’s next.