Trump says JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America cut ties with him after the 2020 election.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump confirmed on Aug. 5 that he will sign an executive order this week aimed at penalizing banks he claims have discriminated against conservatives, including him.
In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Trump confirmed that he would be signing the order and accused major banks—such as JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America—of “very badly” discriminating against him after the 2020 election.
“I‘ll give you me as an example,” he said. “I had hundreds of millions. I had many, many accounts loaded up with cash. I was loaded up with cash, and they told me: ’I’m sorry, sir, we can’t have you. You have 20 days to get out.’”
During his speech, Trump singled out JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan.
Bank of America also refused to do business with him, Trump said, forcing him to move his money to smaller banks.
“I went to another one, another one, another one, another one. I ended up going to small banks all over the place. I mean, I was putting 10 million here, 10 million there,” he said.
Trump said the same treatment has been given to many conservatives, particularly his supporters.
The Wall Street Journal first reported on the upcoming executive order, stating that it will target banks involved in alleged discrimination against conservatives and crypto companies.
Trump alleged that his political opponents pressured banking regulators to target him, saying that banks “are not afraid of anything but a regulator.”
He alleged that the previous administration instructed banking authorities to do everything they could “to destroy Trump.”
“We don’t close accounts for political reasons, and we agree with President Trump that regulatory change is desperately needed,” Trish Wexler, a spokesperson for JPMorgan Chase, told The Epoch Times in a statement. “We commend the White House for addressing this issue and look forward to working with them to get this right.”
In a January statement, a Bank of America spokesperson told The Epoch Times: “We serve more than 70 million clients, and we welcome conservatives. We are required to follow extensive government rules and regulations that sometimes result in decisions to exit client relationships. We never close accounts for political reasons and don’t have a political litmus test.”
The White House declined to comment on the timing and the details of the president’s executive order.
Conservatives Allege Discrimination
For years, conservatives have accused banks of cutting off services for political or religious reasons.
John Eastman, a constitutional scholar and former attorney for Trump, welcomed the news, telling The Epoch Times that the Trump administration will “get to the bottom of what the banks did and why.”
“There may be a boomerang effect,” he said, referring to Trump’s claim that regulators may have pressured banks to target conservative clients.
Eastman said Bank of America and the USAA, a financial institution serving military members and their families, allegedly closed his accounts several years ago because of his role in representing Trump after the 2020 presidential election.
Neither bank has reached out to him to reverse their decisions, he says.
“I wouldn’t bank with them anyway at this point,” he said.
Bank of America spokesperson Bill Halldin had previously denied allegations that the bank “de-banked” Eastman.
“Due to privacy rules, we don’t comment on client accounts. However, I can say that political views are not a factor in any account closing,” Halldin told The Epoch Times in an email on Jan.3.
It is not the first time Trump has raised the issue.
In January, soon after taking office, Trump castigated large banks for their alleged refusal to serve a number of conservative individuals and organizations during a speech he delivered by video link to attendees of the World Economic Forum annual summit in Davos, Switzerland.
“I hope you start opening your bank to conservatives, because many conservatives complain that the banks are not allowing them to do business within the bank, and that included a place called Bank of America,” Trump told Moynihan. “I don’t know if the regulators mandated that, because of Biden or what, but you and [Dimon] and everybody, I hope you open your banks to conservatives, because what you’re doing is wrong.”
Last year, an investor group led by fund manager David Bahnsen pressed JPMorgan Chase to take action against alleged political de-banking, following accusations that its subsidiary WePay had abruptly closed accounts and refused service in 2021 for a Defense of Liberty conference featuring Donald Trump Jr.
JPMorgan Chase subsequently reversed the decision by WePay.
Both Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase have repeatedly refuted charges of political bias.
In April 2024, 15 state attorneys general issued a letter to Bank of America alleging that the bank “appears to be conditioning access to its services on customers having the bank’s preferred religious or political views.”
The attorneys general charged that the bank employed ambiguous criteria to terminate banking relationships, such as reputational risk and allegations of promoting “intolerance” or “hate.”
“In the past, Bank of America has denied services to gun manufacturers, distributors, and sellers; fossil-fuel producers; contractors for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and private prisons and related services,” the attorneys general wrote. “It recently made headlines for cooperating with the FBI and U.S. Treasury to profile conservative and religious Americans as potential domestic terrorists.”
That same month, the state of Tennessee passed one of the first-ever laws prohibiting political and religious discrimination by banks and insurance companies against state residents.
Both Trump and his wife have said that they were refused banking services over the past several years, alleging that it was on political grounds.
Bank United in Florida closed Trump’s accounts in 2021, stating, “We no longer have any depository relationship with him.”
Professional Bank, another Florida bank, closed Trump’s accounts at the same time.
Signature Bank and Deutsche Bank in New York also ended their relationship with the president following the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Writing in her autobiography, “Melania,” First Lady Melania Trump stated that she was denied banking services at the time.
“I was shocked and dismayed to learn that my long-time bank decided to terminate my account and deny my son the opportunity to open a new one,” she said.
Kevin Stocklin contributed to this report.
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