Donald Trump has accused JPMorgan Chase and its CEO, Jamie Dimon, of at least $5 billion in “debanking” America’s largest bank.
The US president alleged that the bank had stopped offering him banking services in the wake of the January 6 Capitol riots. Earlier this month, he claimed he had been “wrongfully and inappropriately” discriminated against.
The lawsuit was filed in Miami by Trump’s Miami-based personal attorney, Alejandro Berto, who has also been involved in Trump’s defamation lawsuits against media companies such as ABC News and the BBC.
“While we regret that President Trump has sued us, we believe this lawsuit has no merit,” JPMorgan said in a statement. “We respect the president’s right to prosecute himself and our right to defend ourselves.
A spokesperson added that the bank “does not close accounts for political or religious reasons”. “We close accounts because they pose a legal or regulatory risk to the company. We regret doing so but often regulatory expectations lead us to do so.”
Shares in JPMorgan slipped slightly after the filing was first reported. They closed up 0.4 percent late in New York.
In the lawsuit, Trump’s lawyers alleged that the bank blacklisted Trump, the Trump Organization and its affiliates, along with Trump’s family.
J.P. Morgan “did not provide plaintiffs with any relief, remedy or alternative — its decision was final and unequivocal,” the lawsuit claims, adding that Trump and the other plaintiffs “are convinced that JPMC’s unilateral decision was driven by political and social motivations, and that its unsolicited view suggests that it viewed itself as remote.”
Later on Thursday, Trump told reporters that he had not spoken directly to Dimon.
Late last week, the president announced on social media that he would file a lawsuit against the bank, accusing him of draining his accounts after the January 6 coup. Trump has said that several banks, including JPMorgan and Bank of America, rejected his deposits after the riot, although both banks have denied the allegations.
The post appeared to be inspired by a Wall Street Journal report that Trump had offered Dimon the role of Federal Reserve chair last year. Trump denied the allegation and said he would sue the bank.
In response to Saturday’s social media post, JP Morgan said in a statement: “We agree that no one’s account should ever be closed because of political or religious beliefs.”
“We appreciate the steps this administration has taken to address political debanking and we support these efforts,” the statement said.
Dimon, who took home a $43 million compensation package last year, spoke out in defense of Fed Chair Jerome Powell earlier this month after it emerged that Trump’s Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into him.
After Powell revealed the Justice Department’s anti-Fed over the weekend, Dimon spoke up in his defense. Dimon said he had “tremendous respect for Jay Powell, the man,” despite disagreements over some of the Fed’s policy choices.
“Anything that’s off the charts [the Fed’s independence] That risks driving up inflation and interest rates, Dimon warned.
In a swift response, Trump said Damon was wrong and “it’s OK what I’m doing.” “We have to have rates low,” Trump said last week. “Jamie Dimon probably wants higher rates — maybe he can make more money that way.”
At the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, Dimon was particularly critical of Trump’s proposal to cap credit card interest rates at 10 percent for the first year, calling the idea a potential “economic disaster.”
He also suggested that America has become less trustworthy under Trump. “If you asked me, has America become untrustworthy? ‘No,'” Damon said on the show. “It’s just, you were completely dependent, and now it’s less reliable.”
Trump is one of several prominent figures to complain about being “debanked” by leading financial institutions because of his political positions.
In the UK, Dame Alison Rose, chief executive of the NatWest Group, stood down in 2023 when she admitted that reform had “debanked” UK leader Nigel Farage for being the source of a BBC story.
Farage threatened legal action against the bank, and later settled.
