In a notable revelation, JPMorgan Chase has, for the first time, confirmed that it terminated the bank accounts of former President Donald Trump and several of his businesses. This decision came in the wake of the political and legal turmoil following the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol, adding a new chapter to the contentious issue of “debanking.”
This admission was disclosed in a recent court filing linked to Trump’s ongoing lawsuit against JPMorgan and its CEO, Jamie Dimon. The former president is seeking $5 billion in damages, arguing that the closure of his accounts was politically motivated and disrupted his business operations.
According to the court document, Dan Wilkening, JPMorgan’s former chief administrative officer, stated, “In February 2021, JPMorgan informed Plaintiffs that certain accounts maintained with JPMorgan’s CB and PB would be closed.” The designations “CB” and “PB” refer to the bank’s commercial and private banking sectors, respectively.
Previously, JPMorgan had refrained from confirming the account closures, opting instead to discuss its general policies and potential reasons for closing accounts without linking them specifically to Trump.
The bank has yet to respond to requests for comment, as emails and text messages to their spokesperson remain unanswered.
Initially, Trump filed the lawsuit in Florida, where he currently resides. However, JPMorgan Chase is attempting to relocate the case to New York, the site of the bank accounts and Trump’s primary business operations until recently.
Trump accuses the bank of trade libel and accuses Dimon himself of violating Florida’s Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
In the original lawsuit, Trump alleges he tried to raise the issue personally with Dimon after the bank started to close his accounts, and that Dimon assured Trump he would figure out what was happening. The lawsuit alleges Dimon failed to follow up with Trump.
Further, Trump’s lawyers allege that JPMorgan placed the president and his companies on a reputational “blacklist” that both JPMorgan and other banks use to keep clients from opening accounts with them in the future.
JPMorgan has previously said it believes the suit has no merit.
Debanking occurs when a bank closes the accounts of a customer or refuses to do business with a customer in the form of loans or other services. Once a relatively obscure issue in finance, debanking has become a politically charged issue in recent years, with conservative politicians arguing that banks have discriminated against them and their affiliated interests.
“In a devastating concession that proves President Trump’s entire claim, JPMorgan Chase admitted to unlawfully and intentionally de-banking President Trump, his family, and his businesses, causing overwhelming financial harm,” the president’s lawyers said in a statement. President Trump is standing up for all those wrongly debanked by JPMorgan Chase and its cohorts, and will see this case to a just and proper conclusion.”
Debanking first became a national issue when conservatives accused the Obama administration of pressuring banks to stop extending services to gun stores and payday lenders under “Operation Choke Point.”
Trump and other conservative figures have alleged that banks cut them off from their accounts under the umbrella term of “reputational risk” after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Since Trump came back into office, the president’s banking regulators have moved to stop any banks from using “reputational risk” as a reason for denying service to customers.
This is not the first lawsuit Trump has filed against a big bank alleging that he was debanked. The Trump Organization sued credit card giant Capital One in March 2025 for similar reasons and allegations. The case is ongoing.
